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Eliud Kipchoge Urges France-Africa Cooperation on Sports Development at Nairobi Summit
The marathon great spoke at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on May 11, 2026, urging collaboration to harness untapped African talent through French expertise in sports science and infrastructure. Kipchoge highlighted Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha's sub-two-hour marathon performances at the London Marathon in April 2026 as evidence of the continent's potential.
May 11, 11:24 AM·2m read1 source
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Eliud Kipchoge called for collaboration between Africa and France to develop sports talents on the continent while speaking at the Africa Forward Summit at the University of Nairobi on May 11, 2026. The double world record holder and four-time London Marathon champion said France can provide Africa with knowledge and experience on sports science, infrastructural development, athlete development and event hosting.
"France provides experience in sports science, infrastructure, event hosting, and athlete development, while Africa offers exceptional talent, youthful energy, and a lively sporting culture.
This presents an exciting collaboration opportunity to build stronger, more sustainable sporting communities across Africa," Kipchoge said. The summit aims to identify and explore strategies to enhance an equal partnership between France and Africa. Kipchoge stated that the African sports landscape lies fallow because support systems to harness talent are inadequate or non-existent.
"There is a lot of untapped potential in Africa, we have produced outstanding talent across all sports including footballers who have played in the greatest clubs in Europe," he said. "However, many of the supporting systems essential for this talent such as sports science, technology, infrastructure, media and economic support are frequently advancing elsewhere and not here, that needs to change if we are to realize our full potential.
Perhaps Africa's next exciting chapter isn't all about producing exceptional athletes.
