Kipchoge confirmed for Tokyo Marathon

Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder and two-time Olympic marathon champion, has announced he will compete at the Tokyo Marathon slated to take place on March 6.

It signals the start of his quest to accomplish victories the last three of six world marathon majors having already won in London (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019), Berlin (2015, 2017, 2018) and in Chicago (2014).

Tokyo, New York and Boston are the three other races in the global series in which Kipchoge is yet to compete in. The Tokyo Marathon is the most recently established of the major marathons (2007) and was elevated to that status in 2012.

Next month’s trip will mark his return to the Japanese capital where he cemented his place among the all-time greats of the sport when he won a second straight Olympic gold just over six months ago.

“I would like to thank the organisers of the Tokyo Marathon to make it possible for me and my colleague athletes to race in Tokyo. My focus has been on Tokyo from the beginning of my training cycle, and I can say I am ready to race there.

“I am very excited to run in a country where running is a crucial part of the sport culture and looking forward to experience the Japanese excitement for running the marathon in particular,” Kipchoge wrote on Twitter.

Kipchoge is the only man to run the distance in under two hours, and last year August became only the third runner to win back-to-back gold medals on the Olympic stage.

Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila (1960 and 1964) and East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski (1976 and 1980) are the only others to achieve that feat.

He has four Olympic medals overall, having also taken 5,000m silver in 2008 and bronze in 2004.