In the early hours of September 18, the Berlin Marathon organizers announced,Ethiopian distance-running legend Kenenisa Bekele will return to Berlin to compete in the 2026 race。
With Sawe sidelined by injury, Bekele was parachuted into Berlin and was the athlete in the field with the fastest PB. However, the last time Bekele actually finished a marathon was the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics; in Valencia, New York and Guangzhou that followed, he recorded DNFs.
Now 44, he has chosen to return to Berlin and to the course that once witnessed his glory and left him with regrets — what exactly will his goal be?
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Four trips to Berlin
Triumphs and regrets
Berlin is a place of both glory and regret for Bekele.
ThisThe three-time Olympic gold medallist’s first major title after switching to the marathon was the 2016 Berlin MarathonHe beat then-world record-holder Wilson Kipsang in direct competition. His PB of 2:01:41 was also set in Berlin, just two seconds shy of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record at the time.
The 2017 Berlin “Clash of the Century”:Kipchoge, Kipsang and Bekele — three titans — on the same start lineBut it rained on race day, and the course was wet and cold. Bekele began to lose contact at 22 km and by 25 km had dropped out of the lead group entirely, ultimately failing to finish. That withdrawal in the rain became a regrettable chapter in his Berlin story.
IfAt 39, Bekele could still at the 2021 Berlin Marathontake third in 2:06:47 and still challenge for the win,then five years later, how much of that competitive edge does 44-year-old Bekele still have?
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2026 — Return to Berlin
Looking back at 2024, it was a remarkable year. Marathon legend Kipchoge finally added a new chapter to his career — he recorded his first-ever marathon DNF, at the Paris Olympics. Bekele, by contrast, was in stronger form that year,at the 2024 London Marathon he finished second in 2:04:15 and set a masters world record.
However, over the past year-plus Bekele's form has been heavily affected by injuries; after Valencia at the end of 2024,he missed last year's London Marathon due to injury, then withdrew from New York, and at the Guangzhou Marathon he merely went through the motions.
Bekele, absent for nine monthsmade his fifth appearance in Berlin, and the rivals around him are no longer the Kipchoge and Kipsang of old,the era has changed — the once-'1:59' is now reality,Kipchoge has also begun his world tour. Is Bekele this time aiming for a podium? Going after his masters world record of 2:04:15? Or an even bigger target?
What's interesting about Bekele is that his form is always hard to read. Like Berlin 2019: when you think he's done, he often produces a surprise; but when you're confident in him, he can sometimes fall apart. Those ups and downs are exactly what people love.
In 2026, his return to Berlin isn't Bekele's 'Ragnarök' — it's a new touch of starlight on a men's start line that had grown a little dim.
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Text/Editor: MP
Image source: Pao Ye Da Bao Zha
Visual: Max
