Eliud Kipchoge won the 2026 Melbourne Marathon on Sunday, breaking the race record by two seconds with a time of two hours nine minutes and 10 seconds. The 41-year-old Kenyan finished in front of thousands of fans at the MCG, securing his first marathon win in three years.
Race details and competition
Kipchoge, a two-time Olympic champion and former world record-holder, was accompanied by Jimmy Whelan, a former Australian professional cyclist, until about 30km. At that point, Kipchoge increased his pace and dominated to the finish.
After crossing the line, Kipchoge spent over half an hour celebrating with fans along the MCG boundary fence. He was mobbed by media at the finish and took the chaos in his stride.
Kipchoge's message to the next generation
“The crowd is so wonderful – I’ve never seen a crowd like this,” he said. “Melbourne is really, really a sporting city.”
“I believe that my body is still peaking – still able to compete with the next generation. The oldest athlete is still competing but I am happy to run with the gen Zs.”
“I [increased] the pace after 30km, to see whether I can run well and beat the [race record]. My plan went well.”
Melbourne's sporting heritage and community work
Kipchoge said his Melbourne visit was more than just another race. It is the third leg in his world tour, where he will run a marathon on each continent, including Antarctica. He also did community work while in Melbourne and is acutely aware of the city’s rich sporting heritage.
“The experience is awesome – the culture of Melbourne is wonderful,” he said. “The last four days, I’ve seen myself, sport can do wonder. It was four-in-one – with the tennis, finishing at the cricket, the Olympics were here in 1956, running on the Formula One track.”
“I will come back to Melbourne to watch the tennis, the Formula One next year, to see people of Melbourne playing cricket. This is the best track ever.”
Other results and incident
Kipchoge could have finished a few seconds quicker but was waving to the crowd on the half-lap inside the MCG to the finish. This was his second visit to Australia; he finished ninth in the 2025 Sydney Marathon.
Australia’s Thomas Do Canto was runner-up in 2:10:35 and Whelan was fifth. New Zealand’s Camille French won the women’s race in 2:28:25, with Australia’s Sinead Diver next in 2:28.49. The Australian Seth O’Donnell and the New Zealander Georgie Gregec won the half-marathon titles.
Earlier on Sunday, a woman was taken to hospital after she was struck by a car near Flinders Street station, about 200 metres from the marathon route. Reports suggest police officers in the vicinity drew their weapons after the car, which was seen driving erratically, hit the woman about 10.45am, before performing a U-turn and driving away. The woman was taken to Royal Melbourne hospital and her condition is not known.
