**MICHAEL JORDAN SHAKES THE SPORTS WORLD — SIGNS A 30-MILLION-DOLLAR DEAL WITH ELIUD KIPCHOGE TO LAUNCH THE “AIR JORDAN RUNNING ERA”! In a stunning agreement, Michael Jordan has signed a 30-million-dollar contract with marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, making him the first-ever face of the new “Air Jordan Running” line. But the real shock lies in a special clause Jordan reserved for Eliud — something every track athlete dreams of.

The announcement dropped without warning on 13 November 2025 at Nike’s global headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Michael Jordan, wearing his trademark black suit and no smile, walked onto the stage beside Eliud Kipchoge, who looked almost shy in a simple white training top.

For thirty years, Air Jordan had been basketball’s untouchable kingdom. Football, golf, even baseball had received small branches of the Jumpman empire. Running, the biggest participation sport on earth, had always been kept at arm’s length. That changed in one signature.

The contract is reported at $30 million over five years, dwarfing every previous running endorsement in history. It includes signature shoes, apparel, and a promise that Kipchoge will headline every major marathon wearing Jumpman on his chest until 2030.

But money was never the headline. The headline was buried on page seven of the 42-page contract, a single paragraph that leaked hours after the press conference and sent the internet into meltdown.

Clause 23-B, nicknamed “The Dream Clause” by stunned reporters, reads: “Should Eliud Kipchoge break the men’s marathon world record while wearing Air Jordan product, Michael Jordan will personally retire jersey number 23 at the United Center and replace it with Kipchoge’s name and marathon WR time.”

In other words, if Eliud runs 1:59:xx or faster in official conditions, the most famous number in sport stops belonging to His Airness and becomes property of a quiet farmer from Kaptagat.

Jordan confirmed the clause himself when pressed. “I told him straight,” he said, voice low. “Beat my legacy on the road and I’ll hang your name where mine used to be. That’s the deal.”

Kipchoge, typically serene, allowed himself a small smile. “Coach Sang always says records are made to be broken,” he replied. “Maybe one day the rafters in Chicago will read ‘Kipchoge 1:59’ instead of Jordan 23. Pressure is nothing new.”

The clause is unprecedented. No athlete outside basketball has ever been offered symbolic ownership of Jordan’s number. Not Tiger Woods, not Serena Williams, not even Ronaldo. Eliud is the first.

Nike executives say the idea came from Jordan himself during a private dinner in Monaco last summer. He had watched Kipchoge’s INEOS 1:59 performance in 2019 and reportedly told his inner circle, “That man has the same killer inside him I had. He just hides it better.”

Designs of the first Air Jordan marathon shoe — internally codenamed “AlphaFly 23” — were shown to select media under embargo. The plate is carbon, the foam is ZoomX, but the heel carries a tiny embroidered “23” that glows faintly when it strikes the ground.

Kipchoge will debut the shoe at the 2026 Tokyo Marathon. His target, whispered among the Nike running team, is 2:00:30 or faster — a time that would obliterate his own current record of 2:01:09 set in Berlin 2022.

Social media exploded within minutes. Kenyan runners posted crying-laughing emojis under photos of the United Center rafters. Chicago fans threatened to riot. One viral tweet read: “Michael Jordan just put his own number on the trading block for a marathoner. This is the most disrespectful sign of respect in sports history.”

Back in Eldoret, Patrick Sang watched the press conference on a small television in his office. When asked by local journalists what he thought of the clause, he laughed for a full ten seconds. “Eliud doesn’t need extra motivation,” he said. “But if retiring number 23 is what it takes to make him suffer one more second per kilometre, Michael just gave him wings.”

Nike stock rose 4.7 percent in after-hours trading. The running world, long considered the poor cousin of team-sport marketing, suddenly found itself at the centre of the sneaker universe.

Whether Kipchoge ever claims the ultimate prize remains uncertain. He turns 41 next November, ancient by marathon standards. Yet those who train beside him in Kaptagat say he is running stronger than ever.

One thing is guaranteed: the next time Eliud Kipchoge toes the line in Jumpman spikes, forty thousand spectators in Tokyo — and one legend watching from a private box in Chicago — will be holding their breath for more than just a world record.

They will be watching to see if the greatest basketball player alive is willing to surrender the number that defined him, all because a soft-spoken Kenyan once taught the world that no human is limited.

And somewhere high above the Rift Valley, Eliud is already running easy 200-metre repetitions at 4:30-per-kilometre pace, smiling quietly, knowing that the most famous 23 in sport is now, for the first time ever, within reach of a marathoner’s stride.