Thread by @bambam1729

Before Boston yesterday everybody in the media anointed Eliud Kipchoge as the marathon GOAT. He certainly deserves such acclaim. But another marathoner deserves it – just as much. They are #1 and #1A, in no particular order, IMO. 1/n

I speak of fellow Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, who seems to have been forgotten in the rush to declare Kipchoge the marathon GOAT. Their records are eerily similar. Let’s look at them. 2/n

Eliud Kipchoge has set 2 marathon world records/bests – at 2007 and 2008 Berlin. Abebe Bikila set 2 marathon world records/bests – at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. 3/n

Eliud Kipchoge has won 2 Olympic gold medals – at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Abebe Bikila won 2 Olympic gold medals – at Roma 1960 and Tokyo 1964 (both in world record/best time). 4/n

Eliud Kipchoge has won 16 of his 1st 18 marathon races – discounting yesterday’s Boston. Abebe Bikila won 12 of his 1st 13 marathon races – he only raced 15 in his career. He did not finish the 1968 Olympic marathon, his final race – he was running on a broken leg (fibula). 5/n

Both raced Boston 1 time – Kipchoge finished 6th yesterday, Bikila finished 5th in 1963. 6/n

Kipchoge has had the chance to race multiple “city marathon majors,” and thus more races. They did not exist in Bikila’s era, although he twice won the Košice Peace Marathon, then considered a major race. 7/n

They’re really close, as I said, eerily similar, and I don’t know how you separate them. But please give Abebe Bikila his due and don’t forget him. 8/end

And 1 final thought - when people talk about times, remember the modern shoe technology available to Kipchoge. Compare that to what Bikila ran in - oh wait, Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon running barefoot - the entire way.