While in Kenya for the Africa-France summit called "Africa Forward", Emmanuel Macron shared a running outing this Monday morning with the living legend of the marathon Eliud Kipchoge.

Two rather unexpected running companions. This Monday morning, French President Emmanuel Macron went for a run alongside Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in the streets of Nairobi, as observed by the press accompanying the head of state in Kenya, including a journalist from BFMTV.

The footage shows Emmanuel Macron sharing his morning jog with the marathon legend, while they chat. The two men are obviously escorted by the President's security detail.

Kipchoge, ambassador of excellence for the Kenyan fund

A keen runner during his international travels, Emmanuel Macron visited Kenya for the Africa-France summit, dubbed "Africa Forward." After a stop in Egypt, the French president arrived in Nairobi on Sunday to host the only major Franco-African summit of his presidency in this English-speaking country.

In Kenya, athletics, and especially long-distance running, is a true "soft power," as athletes have excelled for many years in almost every discipline. Recently, Sebastian Sawe became the first man to officially break the mythical two-hour barrier at the London Marathon (1:59:30). This is a goal that Eliud Kipchoge had long dreamed of achieving. The two-time Olympic marathon champion did indeed break two hours in 2017 in Vienna, but under conditions not sanctioned by World Athletics (pace rotation, lead car too close...).

At 41, the Nike ambassador has now turned his back on performance and set himself the challenge, at the end of last year, of running seven marathons on seven continents over the next two years. "Now I want to do these extreme things, the ones that require very great effort and that can encourage partners to commit to a good cause," he explained just after running the first New York marathon of his career.