Haile Gebrselassie: Eliud Kipchoge will beat the two-hour marathon barrier

Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie. [Courtesy]

While every athlete learns the importance of sportsmanship at an early age, as they get older and become famous at the professional level, that notion can be tossed out of the window.

Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie has shown true sportsmanship after wishing Eliud Kipchoge the best of luck as the latter tries to break the 2hour mark marathon barrier in Vienna, Austria tomorrow.

"Hi my friend Kipchoge, I know you are in Vienna for the sub-2 hours. Believe me, you can do it. Go! Go! Go! Good luck," Gebrselassie posted on Twitter, Friday.

 

All my well wishes for our legend @EliudKipchoge. Good luck!
1:58.57 pic.twitter.com/rrySicZpvp — Haile Gebrselassie (@HaileGebr) October 11, 2019

Gebrselassie won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles.

He also won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon.

In his illustrious career, Gebrselassie also won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion.

Kipchoge holds the Men's Marathon World Record with a time of 2hr 01min 39sec, which he set in Berlin on September 16, 2018.

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge poses for photographers prior to his press conference in Vienna on October 10, 2019, prior to his attempt to break the two-hour barrier on the October 12, 2019 marathon in Vienna. [Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP]

The World marathon record holder Kipchoge, who was flown out of the country on Monday, October 7 in a chartered plane to Austria, will attempt to break the two-hour marathon barrier to beat his Berlin record.

One of the reasons Vienna was picked for the venue was its favourable weather conditions in October.

Vienna offers many advantages as a venue for the attempt, including the fact that it’s only an hour behind Kipchoge’s home time zone.

INEOS 1:59 organisers have confirmed the marathon will start tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:15a.m.

Viva Eliud Kipchoge and all the best!