Nairobi — Double World and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon and Marathon World Record holder Eliud Kipchoge are massive football fans, and this has been their source of banter and heated arguments especially this season, as they train together at the Kaptagat Training camp in Eldoret.
Kipyegon supports current league leaders Arsenal while Kipchoge is an avid supporter of cross-town North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
With Arsenal currently enjoying superb form and Spurs struggling, it has been a house of banter at the Global Sports Communication Camp in Kaptagat.
“Yes, absolutely. We argue a lot but Eliud sometimes beats us in arguing because he is the strongest and sometimes we just accept what he says. We know they are real rivals, for us, we just say anything but the best wins,” Kipyegon says, whispering out that of course Arsenal is the best.
Eliud also affirms as much; “We have a lot of fun in camp because we have a lot of different fans around. We have Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea, I am Spurs, Faith is Arsenal and so we are always constantly arguing for our teams.”
For Faith, it gets a little bit intense at home as her husband, Former Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Kitum is a Chelsea fan.
“At least at home I know I can win if I can’t beat Eliud. Especially now. I am also trying to make Allyne (her daughter) an Arsenal fan,” Kipyegon jokes off cuff.
The two global beaters are hence hoping their teams come out top this season. Kipchoge still believes Spurs have a chance in the league.
“I don’t think we will be number five forever. I believe Spurs will come up. Let us still wait we still have about 16 games to go. We will discuss that with maybe five games to go. It is still open no one can say who will win. We will be there to focus on the first prize,” Eliud says.
For Faith, she believes Arsenal will clinch the title at the end of the season. “I believe we will win because I support them. We have been up and down but this season we are up and we got this!” says the second fastest woman ever, over 1500m.
While Kipchoge has been fortunate to visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and watched his favourite team play, Faith is yet to set foot at the Emirates.
“I was to go there in 2017 when we were at the World Championships but it became a little bit difficult because I was focusing much on the race. But I hope to go there one day one time,” she says.
And you might ask, who is her favourite Arsenal player?
“At the moment I love Saka (Bukayo). He is doing really well for the team. I also used to love Aubameyang (Pierre Emerick), but he broke my heart when he went somewhere else,” says the world champion amidst giggles.