When World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge lost during his London marathon last Sunday, the world could not believe it.
Reasons of why he lost started cropping up even before the over the 42 km distance race could be concluded.
Marathons, just like other elite endurance sports, affect the working and body mechanics of an athlete.
Anxiety, hearts racing, people tweeting about 'Kipchoge might be sick', tongues wagging about all manner of reasons to why the Ineos champion was not running as expected.
But after the champion finished eighth during the race, Kenyans waited to hear why he lost.
People could not believe it, in fact, many started tweeting about how humans were limited -this is the opposite of Ineos challenge that states that #nohumanislimited.
The elite men’s race was run between 10.17am and 12.23pm British time.
Unfortunately, after 1 hour and 14 minutes of running, Kipchoge began feeling a blocked right ear sensation which interfered with the inner ear function, a condition known as Vestibular imbalance.
With his ear blocked, Kipchoge had to over rely on his vision and feedback from his muscles to run which led to muscle cramps and hip joint pain.
But with all this uncertainties and disappointments, Kipchoge has not let his guard down as he spreads message of hope days after losing the marathon.
"Marathon is life, and life is full of challenges. I want to thank everybody for the many well wishes, it is a great support to me. We look ahead and together we build towards an even greater future, in which we hope to inspire as many human beings as possible," he said.
Via Twitter on Tuesday evening, Kipchoge said he was grateful for all the support that he was accorded.
"Last, I do want to thank the organisation of the @LondonMarathon for going the extra mile to make the event possible," he said.
He added:"It shows what's possible and gives hope other organisations can incorporate their plans to make sports possible in current times.#NoHumanIsLimited."
Shura Kitata pushed ahead of Kenya's Vincent Kipchumba on the home straight to finish in two hours five minutes and 41 seconds.
Kipchoge has won the London Marathon in a record of four times (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) and was looking to bag his fifth title.
Sisay Lemma from Ethiopia became third in 2:05:45closely followed by his counterpart Mosinet Geremew in 2:06:04.
Ethiopians dominated the race as Mule Wasihun crossed the tape in 2:06:08 to finish at number five while his counterpart Tamirat Tola become sixth in 2:06:41.