Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge becomes third runner in history to win back-to-back Olympic marathons

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge overcame hot and humid conditions to successfully defend his marathon title at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday. Eliud’s winning time was 2 hours 08 minutes and 38 seconds.

He is the third runner in the history of the Games to win back-to-back marathon titles.

“I think I have fulfilled the legacy by winning the marathon for the second time. I hope now to inspire the next generation,” Eliud said in the post-marathon interaction.

Ethiopia’s late marathon legend Abebe Bikila was the first to win consecutive gold medals at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games while Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany emulated the feat at Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980.

The marathon on Sunday was held in Sapporo, and not Tokyo, due to the heat and humidity.

The race started at a moderate pace due to warm conditions. The large bunch of 50 runners ran the opening 5km in 15 minutes 17 seconds and 10km in 30 minutes 53 seconds.

Eliud, considered the greatest marathon runner of all time, remained in the leading pack that started spreading out at the halfway mark.

There were 23 runners at the halfway mark as the leading group clocked 1 hour 05 minutes and 13 seconds for the 21km.

The first break came at 27km when the lead pack was reduced to 12 runners. Eliud remained firmly in front. At the 30km mark, there were only eight runners.

Eliud broke away from the leading pack at the 31km mark. He was the clear winner at the 35km mark, with a 27-second lead over the leading group. The lead widened as Eliud started pushing the pace. He crossed the finish line in 2 hours 08 minutes and 38 seconds.

Eliud won gold with a commanding lead of 1 minute 20 seconds over his nearest rival, the widest since Frank Shorter won gold in Munich 1972. The timing is testimony to his preparation to compete in the hot and humid weather of Japan at this time of the year.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands crossed the finish line in 2 hours 09 minutes and 58 seconds to win silver. Bronze went to Belgian Bashir Abdi, who clocked 2 hours 10 minutes.

Eliud, a former track runner, has been the most consistent marathon runner in recent times. He holds the current world record of 2 hours 1 minutes 39 seconds, set in September 2018 in Berlin.

Japan’s Suguru Osako finished sixth with a time of 2 hours 10 minutes and 41 seconds.

Ethiopia’s late marathon legend Abebe Bikila, the first runner to win back-to-back gold medals, is considered a pioneer of distance running in East Africa. His wins in 1960 and 1964 were both Olympic records.

At the Rome Olympics, Abebe clocked 2 hours 15 minutes 16.2 seconds, while his winning time in Tokyo was 2 hours 12 minutes and 11.2 seconds.

A stress fracture in the leg denied the Ethiopian the chance to achieve a hat-trick at the 1968 Mexico Games. Though he dropped at the 16km mark, Ethiopia claimed their third consecutive marathon gold through Mamo Wolde.

Abebe was met with a tragic car accident in 1969 and was wheelchair bound. He passed away at age 41 in 1973.