Ethiopian has won 14 of his 22 races against the Kenyan but their marathon history is more one sided. Steve Smythe looks at the facts

While the field is full of runners with quick times, the Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday (Oct 4) is billed primarily as a battle between the world’s two fastest marathoners Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele.

Officially only two seconds separate them on their best times but there is a chasm between their respective marathon records to date.

Olympic champion and world record-holder Kipchoge is regarded by everyone as the world’s greatest ever marathoner even ignoring his two paced efforts of 2:00:25 at Monza and the historic 1:59:41 at Vienna.

Bekele may not have won as many titles on the track as Mo Farah or set as many world records as Haile Gebrselassie but if you take into account the titles won, records set and all-round running ability on road and country which he has now shown for 20 years, then surely he must be regarded as the greatest all-round distance runner of all-time.

This is not the first time the pair have met at the marathon and the previous meetings over 26.2 miles have been one-sided in favour of the Olympic champion (4-0) but Bekele has come out on top on most of their previous track meetings (10 to 3) and most of their cross-country clashes (4-1).

Importantly, his last marathon of 2:01:41, where he missed the world record by two seconds, suggests that Bekele may have finally mastered the distance.

Here we list all the Kipchoge versus Bekele previous meetings with Bekele currently ahead 14-8 but he has lost the last seven clashes.

Oslo 5000m, June 27, 2003: 1st Bekele 12:52:26; 3rd Kipchoge 12:52.61

Kipchoge was officially only 18 (and Bekele 21) when they first met and Bekele pulled off victory by inches from Commonwealth champion Sammy Kipketer (12:52.33). Kipchoge set a world junior record.

World Championships, Paris, August 28, 2003: 5000m heat 1st Bekele 13:38.03 2nd Kipchoge 13:38.73

This race came just four days after Bekele had won his first major track title (at 10,000m) and they came in a clear first and second.

World Championships, Paris, August 31, 2003: 5000m final 1st Kipchoge 12:52.79; 3rd Bekele 12:53.12

Three days later came one of the greatest ever championships 5000m races. Hicham El Guerrouj, who four days earlier had won his fourth consecutive 1500m title, was the marginal favourite but it was the teenage Kenyan who controlled the last lap and pulled off a relative shock victory to deny his rivals a second title at Paris and he won from the Moroccan (12:52.83) and just missed his PB and world junior record from Oslo.

World Cross Country Championships (12km), Brussels, March 21, 2004: 1^st Bekele 35:52; 4^th Kipchoge 36:34

Bekele had already won the 4km title the day before and he easily won a second gold by 18 seconds as Ethiopia gained a clean sweep and Kipchoge (below) was the leading Kenyan.

Olympic Games 5000m, Athens, August 28, 2004, 2^nd Bekele 13:14.59; 3rd Kipchoge 13:15.10

Again both El Guerrouj and Bekele had won a gold already in Athens when they came into this race and again the three from Paris shared the medals but this time it was the Moroccan who finished the strongest and he won from Bekele by two metres in 13:14.39 with the Kenyan having to settle for third.

World Cross Country Championships (12km), Saint Galmier, March 20, 2005: 1^st Bekele 35:06; 4^th Kipchoge 35:37

Again Bekele had already won the 4km title the day before and he took gold by 14 seconds. Kipchoge was again the leading Kenyan and only missed bronze by five seconds.

Rome Golden League 5000m, July 14, 2006, 1^st Bekele 12:51.44; 6^th Kipchoge 12:54.94

In a quality race - the first 10 broke 13 minutes, Bekele won by five metres with Kipchoge a disappointing sixth, albeit not far outside his PB.

London Grand Prix 5000m, Crystal Palace, July 28, 2006: 2^nd Bekele 13:00.04; 4^th Kipchoge 13:01.74

Astonishingly there was not a single Brit in the field as the race was won by future world champion Bernard Lagat (12:59.22) who clearly outsprinted Bekele with again Kipchoge close but not looking anywhere near his 2003 form.

Zurich Golden League 5000m, August 18, 2006: 1^st Bekele 12:48.25; 3^rd Kipchoge 12:57.69

Bekele only won narrowly from Isaac Songok and had his biggest ever margin on the track over Kipchoge.

Brussels Golden League 5000m, August 25, 2006: 1^st Bekele 12:48.09; 2^nd Kipchoge 13:01.88

Kipchoge advanced to second but was around 80 metres back as Bekele (below) won easily.

Edinburgh Cross-Country 10km, January 13, 2007: 1^st Bekele 28:14; 3rd Kipchoge 28:51

Bekele was going to lose his unbeaten record at cross-country in the World Champs but here he won easily from Zersenay Tadese, who beat him at the World Cross in Mombasa when Bekele dropped out.

Olympic Games 5000m, Beijing, August 23, 2008: 1^st Bekele 12:57.82; 2nd Kipchoge 13:02.80

Bekele had already won the 10,000m in a fast 27:01.77 and here he won easily with Kipchoge returning to form to take a clear second.

Edinburgh Cross-Country, January 12, 2008 1^st Bekele 27:42; 3^rd Kipchoge 27:43

Kipchoge got closer to Bekele at cross-country than ever before with Tadese separating them as in 2007.

World Championships 5000m, Berlin, August 23, 2009: 1^st Bekele 13:17.09; 5^th Kipchoge 13:18.95

Bekele completed another 10,000m and 5000m double by outsprinting the defending champion Lagat as Kipchoge was over a second outside the medals.

World Athletics Final 5000m, Thessaloniki, September 12, 2009: 1^st Bekele 8:03.79; 9th Kipchoge 8:07.26

A slow tactical race saw Bekele beat Lagat again with Kipchoge ninth and only fifth Kenyan.

Brussels Diamond League 10,000m, September 16, 2011: 1^st Bekele 26:43.16; 5^th Kipchoge 26:53.27

This was the pair’s only meeting over 25 laps and Bekele bounced back after dropping out of the World Championships.

Edinburgh Cross-Country 3km, January 7, 2012: 3^rd Kipchoge 9:26; 11th Bekele 9:42

Asbel Kiprop won this short-course race at Holyrood Park from Jonny Hay with Kipchoge third and Bekele back in 11^th as two Kenyans, two Spaniards and six Brits took the Ethiopian’s scalp.

Doha Diamond League 3000m, May 11, 2012: 2^nd Kipchoge 7:31.40; 7^th Bekele 7:40.00

Kipchoge got the better of an out of sorts Bekele for the first time in almost nine years on the track although finished a second down on Augustine Choge.

Saint Denis Diamond League 5000m, July 6, 2012: 8^th Kipchoge 12:55.34; 9^th Bekele 12:55.79

Kipchoge got the better of Bekele again and there were only metres between them but this time they were eighth and ninth and was the last time either broke 13 minutes or raced each other on the track.

Bank of America Chicago Marathon, October 12, 2014: 1^st Kipchoge 2:04:11; 4^th Bekele 2:05:51

Bekele won in his marathon debut at Paris in April (2:05:04) but was well beaten here as Kipchoge, who had debuted in 2013, won easily.

Virgin Money London Marathon, April 24, 2016: 1^st Kipchoge 2:03:05; 3^rd Bekele 2:06:36

Kipchoge won by 46 seconds with a PB and world lead with Bekele a well beaten third over three minutes down on the Kenyan.

BMW Berlin Marathon, September 24, 2017: 1^st Kipchoge 2:03:32; Bekele DNF

Kipchoge continued his winning run with a 14-second win (above) over Shura Kitata as Bekele dropped out.

Virgin Money London Marathon, 21 April 2018: 1^st Kipchoge 2:04:17; 6th Bekele 2:08:53

Kipchoge won again – by 32 seconds from Shura Kitata as Bekele was a disappointing sixth.

(Lead photos by Mark Shearman and Virgin Money London Marathon)

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