On brisk but sunny Australian morning, Eliud Kipchoge completed the Sydney Marathon in its first-ever year as an Abbott World Marathon Majors race. Going into the contest as a headline act, the Kenyan delivered a strong performance, placing ninth in a time of 2:08:31.
After crossing the finish line on Sunday (31 August), in the shadows the iconic Sydney Opera House, Kipchoge promptly broke into a smile, congratulating those who finished before him.
The 2025 Sydney Marathon was the 23rd marathon of the 40-year-old’s career, which dates back 13 years to his 26.2-mile debut at the 2013 Berlin Marathon.
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Hailemaryam Kiros of Ethiopia took the overall victory in a new course record of 2:06:06, while Addisu Gobena, his compatriot, placed second in 2:06:16. Tebello Ramakongoana of Lesotho rounded out the podium in third (2:06:47).
Meanwhile, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands – another favourite going into the race – won the women’s title in 2:18:22, which doubled as another course record. She was followed by decorated Kenyan distance runner Brigid Kogei in second (2:18:56) and Ethiopia’s Workenesh Edesa in third (2:22:15).
For the opening half of the race, which started at 6:30am local time, Kipchoge looked comfortable, running in the second line of a group of about 15 runners, tucked behind pacers. The peloton came through 13.1 miles in 1:03:45 – which would have put them on for a 2:07:30 finish – and, at the 30km mark, the group was still moving together.
However, around a kilometre later, the lead pack began to string out in Centennial Park, led by a charge from Laban Korir – Kipchoge’s NN Running teammate. At the 35km split, Kipchoge had fallen 12 seconds back from the leaders.
While he continued to lose time on the head of the race, Kipchoge was still able to make it to the finish line without slowing too much.
Coming off a rough 2024, where he placed 10th at the Tokyo Marathon and dropped out of the Olympic marathon in Paris due to a hip complaint, Kipchoge has rebounded to find his form in 2025. In April, he raced the London Marathon and, although he fell off the front pack around 90 minutes into the race, he looked in control and finished in a respectable 2:05:25.
Regardless of what he does at this point in his career, Kipchoge is still considered to be the greatest marathon runner of all time. He’s won two Olympic and 11 Abbott World Marathon Majors, he owns an official personal best of 2:01:09 – a then world record and still the second-fastest marathon time ever – and is the only person to have broken the two-hour barrier for the distance.
Kipchoge has also functioned as an ambassador for the sport of running, especially in the late stages of his career. When the organisers of the Sydney Marathon announced in March that he would be competing in this year’s, Kipchoge said that he was eager to engage with the Australian spectators.
‘I’m excited to sell the idea of making the world a running world – to sell the idea of marathoning to Australia as a running nation,’ he said at the time.
