(Reuters) – Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, the two-times Olympic marathon champion and world record holder, won the Tokyo Marathon in Japan with a time of two hours two minutes and 40 seconds on Sunday.
Kipchoge, who defended his marathon title at Sapporo at the Tokyo Games last year, fell short of his world record mark by just over a minute in his debut Tokyo Marathon.
Kipchoge’s compatriot Amos Kipruto was second with a time of 2:03.13 while Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia came in third with 2:04.14.
In the women’s race, Kenyan world record holder Brigid Kosgei prevailed with a time of 2:16.02, ahead of the Ethiopian duo of Ashete Bekere (2:17.58) and Gotytom Gebreslase (2:18.18).
“I am so proud to win in the streets of Tokyo, where the people have running in their heart and minds,” Kipchoge said on Twitter. “It’s great to now have won 4 out of the 6 Abbott World Marathon Major races.”
The 37-year-old holds the world record with a time of 2:01:39 set in Berlin in 2018 and became the only man to break the two-hour barrier at an unofficial race in 2019.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
