Considering 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele‘s 2:04:15 second place finish in today’s 2024 TCS London Marathon, I believe the Ethiopian legend strengthened his case for GOAT status in the world of distance running.

As far back as 2018, I deduced Kenenisa had already earned GOAT status off his 21 gold medals in world championships (18) and Olympic (3) competition, along with his world record performances on the track, and second all-time (at the time) marathon time of 2:01:41.

Below is the argument I made in 2018. See if today’s result, Kenenise’s fastest marathon since 2019 at age 41, doesn’t lead you to the same conclusion, especially seeing how his great Kenyan rival for GOAT, Eliud Kipchoge, has finally shown the first chinks in his armor in two of his last three marathons, 10th, 2024 Tokyo (2:06:50), 1st, 2023 Berlin (2:02:42) and 6th, 2023 Boston (2:09:23).

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In light of his other-worldly 2:01:39 marathon world record in Berlin 2018, there were some, perhaps many, prepared to pronounce Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge as the GOAT, the greatest male distance runner of all time. Berlin was, arguably, the crowning achievement of his career. But did that performance, when added to the rest of his curriculum vitae, make a case for GOAT? Let’s dig in and see.

GOAT Marathoner? Yes, indisputably. At the end of 2018, Eliud had produced ten wins in 11 starts, including an Olympic gold medal and a 2:00:25 fastest ever exhibition in Monza, Italy. There wasn’t anyone arguing against that designation. But overall GOAT distance runner? That, I thought, remained a step too far, though certainly he easily fit within the top five. 

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A century ago, the GOAT title was first held by Paavo Nurmi, the “Flying Finn” who dominated running in the early 20th century. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 meters and 20km, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his Olympic competitions. At his peak, Nurmi went undefeated in 121 straight races from 800 meters up, and never tasted defeat in cross country or over 10,000 meters on the track.

In the 1950s, the great Emil Zatopek, known as the “Czech Locomotive”, re-wrote the record books and introduced the concept of interval training. His Olympic triple in Helsinki 1952, where he won the 5000, 10,000, and then the marathon in his debut at the distance, all in Olympic record times, remains an unparalleled achievement. From there, the GOAT crown moved south to East Africa, where it resides to this day. 

To be considered The GOAT, an athlete must prove his mettle on the track, roads, and cross country, as well as in the Olympics while setting world records to boot. The case against Eliud Kipchoge, who has shown world-class performances from 1500 meters to the marathon, centers on his true greatness coming in service to a single event, the marathon.  2018’s 2:01:39 in Berlin was Kipchoge’s first and only world record.

(He later bettered that mark in Berlin 2022 (2:01:09), only to see countryman Kelvin Kiptum announce a new era with his 2:00:35 win in Chicago 2023, before his untimely death earlier this year in a road accident in Kenya.)

IMHO, even from the vantage point of 2018, the GOAT title belonged to Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele. And before Kenenisa, to his countryman Haile Gebrselassie. One could even argue that Kipchoge might not be the best Kenyan runner ever, as Paul Tergat made a valid claim to that distinction over his remarkable career. 

Haile Gebrselassie famously chased Nurmi’s career records total wherever he could. In the end, he amassed 24, two more than the Flying Finn, including the 5000 and 10,000 on the track and the marathon mark, too, at 2:03:59 in Berlin in 2003. But Haile never starred in world cross country championships, finishing only as high as second place one time.

Paul Tergat is another GOAT contender for the breadth of his excellence. Not only was he a track-to-marathon world record holder like Haile, but he also won five straight World Cross Country titles when only the 12km distance was contested. But he lost twice to Haile in the Olympic 10,000 in 1996 & 2000 (by inches both times). So the lack of an Olympic gold medal remains the hole in his GOAT C-V.

When considering the case for the splendid Mr. Kipchoge, we ask the following: Has he been a World Champion? Yes, in the 5000 meters in Paris in 2003, as a reported 18-year-old in one of history’s greatest upsets. There, he bettered both Kenenisa Bekele (3rd) and Morocco’s Hicham el Guerrouj (2nd) in a race for the ages. Does he hold an Olympic title? Yes, in the marathon in Rio 2016 (and again in Sapporo 2021. Was he ever a World Cross Country Champion? No, he never finished higher than 4th (2004), and that was behind one of Bekele’s record 11 World Cross Country titles. 

And Eliud only got as high as a silver medal in his youthful Olympic endeavors on the track, that in the 5000 in Beijing 2008. And who beat him? Again Bekele.

Overall, track, roads, and cross country, Bekele holds a 15-9 advantage over Kipchoge head-to-head. However, on the roads, specifically the marathon, Eliud is 4-0 against Kenenisa – Chicago 2014 (1st to 4th); London 2016 (1st to 3rd); Berlin 2017 (1st to DNF); and London 2018 (1st to 6th).

Here’s the current count. Kenenisa holds 3 Olympic gold medals, Eliud 1. Kenenisa has 18 World titles, Eliud has 2 (2003 5000m & Under 20 Cross Country 2003). Kenenisa held 2 world records (track 5 & 10k), Eliud held 2 (marathon). And in head-to-head meetings in the most important competitions, the Olympics and World Championships, it is Bekele with a 4-1 advantage. 

So who is the GOAT? 

In the marathon, no doubt it is Eliud Kipchoge, capped by his brilliant runs just about everywhere, including his INEOS 1:59:41 exhibition in Vienna 2019. But the overall distance runner GOAT? You could still make a case for Nurmi, as no one has ever been more dominant, though the competition did not have the same international depth of today. And though the marathon remains the marquee event in distance running today, and there Kipchoge is 4-0 versus Bekele, the overall numbers and surface diversity, to my mind, still point north to Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele as the greatest male distance runner of all time.

Today’s second place, 2:04:15 result in London 2024, granted the field was thinner than usual in an Olympic year, just burnishes Bekele’s already strong case for distance GOAT. What say you?

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