Multiple world champion Kenenisa Bekele who in his prime was well known for the blistering finishes, has claimed that he remains a better athlete when compared to Eliud Kipchoge, who is touted by some to be the greatest athlete to grace the tracks and the roads in our times, some say he is the Greatest Of All Time .

The Ethiopian says this despite Kipchoge breaking the world record in this year’s edition of the Berlin marathon. Eliud Kipchoge posted 2.01.09 shattering his own world record set four years ago in Berlin. Mr Kipchoge is also a two time Olympic Gold champion. In addition the soft spoken and humble Kenyan marathoner also remains  the only person to run a sub two-hour marathon.

The 40 year old Bekele said that he respects Kipchoge very much and paid tribute to his great rival’s achievements over the 42 kilometer race. However, he also made it clear that if performances on the track, cross-country and world records were taken into account, he should be considered head and shoulders above Kipchoge.

The Ethiopian superstar’s illustrious career has seen him win an extraordinary three Olympic gold medals with the first coming in the 10000m in the 2004 edition in Athens, Greece before repeating the fete in Beijing four years later winning both 5,000m and 10,000m.

The world champion has won 17 world titles over cross-country, track and road. He also held the world 5,000m and 10,000m records which stood for 15 and 16 years respectively until the were broken by  Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei in 2020. However even now the legendary Ethiopian remains the second quickest athlete ever over 5,000m, 10,000m and the marathon.

When Bekele transitioned to marathon just like Kipchoge had done earlier, he didn’t quite perform as expected and while Kipchoge stuck to marathon, Bekele kept taking part in the other races like his favorite 10,000m and 5,000m.

“With the marathon I couldn’t achieve what everybody hoped, somehow I failed with some marathon races. But, on the other hand, my marathon times also tell you something. I am second overall behind Eliud Kipchoge. And it was very close. It was only two seconds until last week.

“So this tells everyone: it doesn’t matter if I win a marathon 10 times or 20 times, how many athletes can run this time? Of course I’m not perfect. I’ve not really achieved all the spectators or my fans wanted from me. But, on the other hand, those results were not easy to achieve.” said the Ethiopian great ahead of the London marathon where he will be challenging the title while also setting sight on bettering his 2.01.41 personal best he set in 2019.