NAIROBI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya marathon king Eliud Kipchoge is planning to establish one of the most lucrative road races in the country when he retires.
Speaking at a business forum organised by Rich Management in Nairobi on Saturday, Kipchoge, the Olympic champion and three-time London Marathon winner, urged aspiring athletes to be empowered to resist the urge to dope in the sport.
"When I retire, I will have a 10K, 21K or a marathon race where all youth can take part and earn good money. What makes a sportsman dope is easy money. They know when they perform, they will get money. They are those who want to get a high lifestyle without working for it," said Kipchoge who bagged his third Marathon crown on April 23.
In slamming dope cheats as 'greedy' the Rio 2016 marathon gold winner stressed the vice that has cast a dark shadow over the rich legacy of Kenya's distance running excellence can only be fought by sensitisation.
"When you dope, you will be guilty even in your deathbed. You cannot stand and say you have done this or that in the sport. We should empower our youth to leave a legacy by training hard to win," he said.
"We all have talent but others know how to use theirs efficiently. We should get youth from secondary school and colleges and tell them if they take shortcuts, they will be guilty forever," said the man rated as the finest ultimate distance runner on the planet.
He compared doping in athletics to the proliferation of fake academic qualifications in the country.
"Doping is like taking a shortcut in education. We have seen many River Road (downtown Nairobi) degrees and those with them are working in big jobs," he remarked.
The Berlin Marathon titleholder spellbound his audience consisting of aspiring businessmen, job seeking youth, running club members and general public in sharing the secrets of his success that has seen him transition from a track titan into a marathon running superstar.
He listed his formula to greatness as: self-discipline, good planning and preparations, belief, positive thinking, teamwork, kicking out the making money attitude having fun and accepting change.