Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge was hoping for a dream ending to his career at the age of 39, but handed over his running shoes to a fan.
The Kenyan superstar was the only man to run under two hours, albeit in an unofficial race. In Paris, he had enough and stopped running after about 30 kilometers.
In scenes captured by an AFP reporter in the crowd, Kipchoge turned to his fans and handed them his shoes, bib and socks, receiving an enthusiastic reception.
Then he climbed wearily into a waiting van and was driven away to the wild cheers of the crowd.
Kipchoge had been aiming for his historic third gold medal in a row, but was around eight minutes behind when he decided to throw in the towel.
Ethiopian Tamirat Tola won the race in an Olympic record time of 2 hours 06 minutes 26 seconds and described it as the “greatest day” of his life.
For Kipchoge, however, it was “a tough day at the office.”
“This is my worst marathon. I’ve never had a DNF (failed to finish). That’s life,” he said.
He said he felt back pain after kilometer 20.
Kipchoge made non-committal comments about his future.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me. I’ll think about it in the next three months. I still want to try to run a few marathons,” he said.
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