Paris 2024: Former shopkeeper Benson Kipruto out to trade coins for marathon Olympic gold

Following unsatisfactory recent results from the marathon great Eliud Kipchoge, Benson Kipruto might be Kenya’s best bet for gold at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Kipruto is the perfect embodiment of a late bloomer, as he started his athletics career at the age of 24, having tried out several businesses, including farming.

His late entry into the sport led to him skipping track events as he kicked off his career with road running and has since become the country’s most consistent performer in recent years.

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In three years he has bagged three World Marathon Majors and will don the Team Kenya colours for the first time at the Paris Olympics.

Personal life-

Little is known about Kipruto’s personal life, save for his older brother Dickson Chumba who, just like him, also won the Tokyo Marathon.

After winning the Tokyo Marathon in 2024, where he beat Eliud Kipchoge, he dedicated the victory to his newborn daughter, Kayler Chebet Ruto, who was born two days before the race.

He is still a farmer who rears cows and goats and plans to become a pastor after hanging his spikes, as he is deeply rooted in Christianity.

Early career-

Kipruto first fell in love with athletics in primary school and graduated to cross country while still in secondary school.

But he put his career on ice after completing his high school education, started running his kiosk, and also tried his hand at farming.

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After being inspired by his brother, he enrolled in the Kigali Half Marathon, which, to his surprise, emerged victorious, and he was fully convinced to make the complete transition to athletics after finishing second at the Athens Marathon in 2016.

Senior career-

With his impressive performances, he finally earned an invitation to the 2019 Boston Marathon, which marked his debut in the World Marathon Majors, where he finished 10th.

In 2020, he improved his placing by finishing seventh at the London Marathon and he followed that up by clinching the Boston Marathon a year later, which announced him to the world.

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On his return to Boston in 2022, he managed a third-place finish and polished up his performance by winning the Chicago Marathon.

He matched his performance at the Boston Marathon in 2023 by again finishing third but in the same year, he failed to defend his Chicago Marathon title after finishing second behind world marathon record holder Kevin Kiptum, who tragically passed away.

Career milestone-

His career milestones include winning the Boston, Tokyo, and Chicago Marathons in his relatively short athletics career.

Olympic qualification-

Kipruto qualified for the Olympics after meeting the qualification time of 2:08:10 between the set period of November 1, 2022, and April 30, 2024.

Preparation for the Olympics:

The 33-year-old had perfect preparations for the Olympics after winning the Tokyo Marathon back in March by setting a course record of 2:02:16, beating the previous record set by Kipchoge in 2022 of 2:02:40.

Competition at the Olympics:

Apart from stern competition from his compatriots Alexander Mutiso and Eliud Kipchoge, he will also face Kenenisa Bekele and fellow Ethiopian Tamirat Tola.

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Medal prospects-

Based on his red-hot form, Kipruto deserves a gold medal but coming up against Kipchoge, he might have to settle for silver.