Kenya's two-time Olympic marathon champion sets sights on historic third gold in Paris

Two-time Olympic men's marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya will be chasing history as he attempts to become the first man to win three Olympic gold medals in the iconic endurance event.

Kipchoge, who will also become the first Kenyan to make five appearances at the Olympics, talked about his goals during an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) before heading to Paris for the upcoming Games.

The 39-year-old has enjoyed a long and decorated career as a runner, and made his breakthrough way back in 2003, when he won a gold medal for Kenya in men's 5,000m event at the World Championships in Paris.

He later claimed the Olympic title twice in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and is now looking to defend his title in Paris, a place where he holds fond memories given his past success there.

"2003 was the beginning of my life in sport, and I can say I'm happy to go back there again to compete and show the world where my life begins. Luckily, I'm still there to show longevity and the love of sport," said Kipchoge.

The athlete added that he hopes to make history at this year's Games.

"Paris 2024 is really special, actually, in my career and generally in sports. First of all to be the first Kenyan to be in Olympics five times. Second is that I'll be trying to compete and win, and actually fight for the three-time gold medal, to become the first human being to win back to back to back. And it's really special," he said.

Despite his past glory in the French capital, this will be the first time Kipchoge has ran a marathon in the city. While a tough race is assured, he insists he is more than up for the occasion.

"I've gone through the course. It's really challenging. First is that it's really hot in Paris in August. The second is it's up and down, which is a huge challenge to everybody. But nevertheless, I don't complain, because all of us will be running on the same terrain, the same weather, all of us will fight it. Always say the best trained and the best prepared athlete will take the day," he said.

Above all, the marathon runner said he cherishes another opportunity for the world's best athletes to come together.

"I'm excited to see how competitive [the Games] will be in 2024 and all these games are competitive, from a short distance, to swimming, to football, to everything. It's summer and it's hot. It's really exciting to see, and above all to see people of all colors and of all religions meeting together and mingling in one place in the athletes' village," Kipchoge said.

The Paris Olympic Games are scheduled to get underway on Friday and will run through to August 11, while the Paralympic Games will take place from August 28 to September 8.

Kenya's two-time Olympic marathon champion sets sights on historic third gold in Paris

Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit resonated with the common aspiration of more than 2.8 billion Chinese and African people and demonstrated China's firm will of moving forward hand-in-hand with Africa along the path of development, revitalization and modernization, several participants at the event have said.

In his speech on Thursday, Xi proposed that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations, and that the overall characterization of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

He also announced that the Chinese government will provide 360 billion yuan (about 50.8 billion U.S. dollars) of financial support to Africa over the next three years.

"Everyone was happy to hear those news, so everyone was clapping. So now we are going to a higher level of relations between China and Africa," said Hamidou, a counselor at the Embassy of Comoros in Beijing.

"China understands Africa's urgent desire to advance modernization. We can learn a lot from China's development," said Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso Karamoko Jean Marie Traore.

Xi also suggested 10 partnership actions for modernization that China will take together with Africa in the next three years to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead modernization in the Global South.

"President Xi, through his long vision of the needs of countries and his interest in supporting development, has offered this as a real vehicle to promote exports of Africa to China, which is a huge market," said Alaa Ezz, secretary general of the Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture, and Professions (UACCIAP).

"As he told this morning, we have many projects in digitalization, in capacity building, in health centers, support for health, for infrastructure, in the framework of the Belt and [Road]. And we think that we are very satisfied with this partnership. This is a win-win partnership," said Gabriel Mbairobe, Cameroon's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Held in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, the 2024 FOCAC summit brought together leaders from China and over 50 African countries, who highlighted the common pursuit of China and African countries in realizing modernization.

During the summit, both sides unanimously adopted two important documents -- a declaration on jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, and an action plan of the FOCAC for the next three years.

Xi's speech at FOCAC summit resonates with people's common aspiration: participants