Eliud Kipchoge‘s invincibility is gone.
The greatest marathoner in history lost for the first time in seven years at Sunday’s London Marathon, ending a streak of 10 straight wins over 26.2 miles.
Kipchoge dropped behind a leading group of six men in the 24th mile and never regained contact, placing eighth in 2:06:49. Ethiopian Shura Kitata won in 2:05:42, the same time as runner-up Vincent Kipchumba of Kenya.
Kipchoge came into Sunday with 11 wins in his 12 career marathons.
In his last three times racing 26.2 miles, he lowered the world record to 2:01:39 in Berlin in 2018, won his fourth London Marathon title in 2019 in a course record 2:02:37 and became the first person to cover the distance in under two hours.