Eliud Kipchoge retains men's marathon title

TOKYO: Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge retained the Olympic men's marathon title, crossing the finish line in the gruelling event held at the in Sapporo Odori Park in a time of two hours eight minutes and 38 seconds.

Kipchoge, running in his fourth Olympics, clocked a time faster than his 2016 Rio Olympic Games gold-winning performance.

"It means a lot for me, especially at this time," said Kipchoge after winning his second Olympic gold.

"It was really hard last year, it (Olympic Games Tokyo 2020) was postponed. I am happy for the local organizing committee who made this race happen," the Kenyan long-distance running stalwart was quoted as saying by the Olympic channel.

"It is a sign that shows the world we are heading in the right direction — we are on the right transition to a normal life. I can say congratulations to them that they made this Olympics happen."

Kipchoge, winner of the bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics and silver at the 2008 Beijing Games in 5000m, already had a full set of medals coming into the energy-sapping race in Tokyo as he had won the 2016 Rio Olympic marathon gold.

But the latest addition to his collection is Kenya's fifth medal in men's Olympic marathon since the Games in 2008 Beijing.

Kipchoge now joins a select club of runners who have successfully defended the Olympic marathon title. The others are Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila (1960 and 1964) and East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski (1976 and 1980). IANS

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