Character defines a sportsman, says marathoner Eliud Kipchoge

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has urged athletes to maintain character and self discipline to help them focus and work towards achieving their targets without any distractions.

“Rugby is a finite game because there are set rules that all players must abide by.” – Eliud Kipchoge

— Kenya Rugby (@OfficialKRU) April 19, 2022

The Double Olympic champion was speaking at the event organized by the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) to impart life skills and life coaching to the men and women’s teams, former national team players and KRU officials.

“As a sportsperson,character is what you’re consuming.

What are you eating?
Which company do you keep?
What do you watch on the internet?

All these things define your character.” – said Kipchoge

Following a string of victories over 26.2 miles, including his triumph at the 2016 and 2021 Olympic Games in Rio and Tokyo respectively and a world record-breaking performance at the 2018 Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge is widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time.

The 37-year-old has learned a lot during his long career and has previously outlined what he would tell a younger version of himself.

“You don’t realise it yet, but growing up on a farm in rural Kenya will help you develop skills that will take you far in the sport of athletics.From a young age, you already possess a good work ethic and self-discipline. Each day you help fetch water from the river for your mother and take care of the farm animals,” Kipchoge was quoted by the World Athletics

Speaking during the same event, Kenya Rugby Union President Oduor Gangla noted “We as the rugby fraternity are grateful and honoured to have you visit us and share very impactful messages with our teams.”

Last year,Kipchoge got a tour at the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) training camp in Paris, France and met with top players for motivational talk.

He also met with PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino for the second time after meeting him while still at Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

La rencontre entre @EliudKipchoge et @KMbappe ! ❤️💙🤩 pic.twitter.com/42JYcODKKq

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) October 29, 2021

The Kenyan athletics star loves his weekly long runs that range between 30-40km which he says helps his ‘body respond to running for a very long time and perform in a race.’ Here are the secrets that have helped Kipchoge become the fastest in history, and win gold in Rio and Tokyo

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