London — Ethiopia's long-distance star Kenenisa Bekele has hailed legendary Eliud Kipchoge who he recognized as the Greatest Marathoner of All Time (G.O.A.T).

Bekele, who returned to London this year, seeking to win it for the first time, came short only managing a disappointing fifth-place finish in a race won by Kenyan Amos Kipruto on Sunday.

"Eliud (Kipchoge) has already achieved in marathon, he is a great marathon runner no question about that, I respect him, I am happy for him, he has achieved in marathon better than all of us, I congratulate him, he motivates all of us," Bekele, who is a two-time Berlin Marathon champion told Capital Sport in London.

In the absence of top marathoners like Kipchoge, who graced the 2022 edition as a guest, Bekele was the pre-race favourite but failed to make it to the podium, blaming it to the weather.

"It was a tough race; I could not achieve what I expected because I had planned to run 2:03 and below but it was impossible. The weather was not as I expected, it was humid and windy so I was uncomfortable, my preparation was not perfect since I missed some training," Bekele, who clocked 02:05:53, said.

"Amos (Kipruto), is a good athlete, he came behind Kipchoge in Tokyo, he is a strong competitor, he was favorite in the race as well, we expected it to be tough, in this race the runners are strong and you cannot undermine anyone."

However, the 40-year-old, has not lost hope on chasing Kipchoge's World Record of 2:01:09, saying that it is achievable.

"I have goals that I have set to myself, I want to keep going and prepare well so that I can achieve my goals. I hope to break the World Record one day, with good preparations I will try it next time," the three-time Olympic Champion said.

-Alex Isaboke is reporting from London, United Kingdom-