8 Sports Icons With Statues As Nike Honours Marathon King Eliud Kipchoge

• Sports stars have been honoured all over the world with statues
• With their achievements transcending record books, athletes are immortalized in bronze statues
• Kenyan track star Eliud Kipchoge was recently honoured with a statue by Nike
• Sports Brief looks at some of the sports icons honoured with statues

Sports stars who have accomplished great things or served their teams with loyalty are immortalized in many ways. The most popular way to honour the heroes is through bronze statues.

Recently, Eliud Kipchoge, like many legendary figures in football, basketball and other sports, have been honoured with statues which always stand the test of time.

Some of the world's most iconic sports stars have statues erected in their honour. Kipchoge, arguably the world's greatest marathoner, was honoured by Nike with an incredible statue in their headquarters in Oregon.

But which other stars have statues? Sports Brief looks at some of them.

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Football

Diego Maradona - Football

In October last year, Italian champions Napoli unveiled a second statue of the Argentine icon. It joined another one unveiled in 2020 after his death. Maradona led Napoli to their first Serie title in 1986/87 and scored 115 goals in 259 games for the Italian side, per ESPN.

Eliud Kipchoge - Track and Field

On Monday, Nike unveiled Kipochoge's statue in Oregon. The Kenyan has won two Olympic titles in the marathon. He has also won 16 of the 19 marathons he has competed in.

Michael Jordan - Basketball

The Michael Jordan statue was unveiled in 1994 after his first retirement after leading the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA three-peat.

It was inscribed with the words: "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be."

Cristiano Ronaldo - football

The Al-Nassr striker has a few statues made in his honour, a testament to his impact on sports. In December 2021, his statue was unveiled in Goa, India. His other statue was unveiled on his home island of Madeira in Portugal in 2014.

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Pele - Football

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) unveiled a statue of Pele in 2020 to mark the 50th anniversary of Brazil's 1970 World Cup triumph. The football icon sadly passed away in December 2022.

Lionel Messi - Football

The statue was unveiled in June 2016 on Paseo de la Gloria in Argentina, but it has been vandalized a few times. The Inter Miami star is arguably the greatest footballer ever.

Babe Ruth - Baseball

The world’s third bronze statue of baseball immortal Babe Ruth was unveiled in February 2023 to celebrate his 128th birthday. His other statue is in Camden Yards in Baltimore (Unveiled in 1995), and another is in Japan (2002.

Usain Bolt - Track and Field

Usain Bolt's statue was unveiled in 2017 at Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston. The Jamaican is the world record holder in the 100m and 200m. He won three straight Olympic medals in the 100m. Another statue of Bolt was unveiled in July 2023 in Miramar. It is his first statue in the United States, per CBS News.

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Other sports stars like Shaquille O'Neal, Thierry Henry, Johan Cruyff, Jesse Owens, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and many others have statues to honour them.

The likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, the late Kobe Bryant and other sports stars will get statues eventually.

Kiptum smashes Kipochoge world record

Sports Brief earlier reported on Kelvin Kiptum obliterating Eliud Kipchoge's marathon world record earlier in October at the Chicago Marathon.

Kiptum clocked an incredible time of 2:00:35, shaving a mind-boggling 34 seconds off the world record at the event on Sunday, October 8.

He broke Kipchoge's record (2:01:09), which was set in Berlin in 2022.