The fastest marathoner in the world will finally take on the premier marathon course in the world next year.
Eliud Kipchoge, the two-time Olympic champion and 26.2-mile world record holder, announced Thursday that in 2023, he'll run his first Boston Marathon. So too will Gotytom Gebreslase, the reigning world champion.
"I am happy to announce in April I will compete in the Boston Marathon, a new chapter in my Abbott World Marathon Majors journey," Kipchoge said in a statement. "Good luck to all the runners running Boston in 2023."
The race will be held Monday, April 17, with Evans Chebet, the reigning Boston Marathon champion, also among the elite runners who will race from Hopkinton to Boylston Street on Patriots' Day, a fact the Boston Athletic Association highlighted in announcing the lineup.
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"The B.A.A. is bringing the world's best to Boston," said Mary Kate Shea, the association's director of Professional Athletes & Technical Support, in a statement. "World record holder and Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, World Champion Gotytom Gebreslase and six Boston Marathon winners will challenge themselves, each other and a deep field of accomplished athletes on our sport's famed stage."
Kipchoge's 2:01:09 Berlin Marathon result this September is the fastest marathon on record.
