Kipchoge wins Tokyo Marathon, fails to break his Berlin record

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Kenya's double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge said he would aim for "one thing at a time" after narrowly failing to beat his own world record in a dominating performance at the Tokyo marathon on Sunday.

Kipchoge won the race in 2hr 2min 40sec, the fourth-fastest time in history, to give him victories in four of the world's six major marathons.

However, the champion was unable to beat the 2:01:39 he clocked at the 2018 Berlin marathon, hindered partly by a wrong turn around the 10-kilometer mark that cost him valuable seconds.

Setting goals

The 37-year-old has now run three of the four fastest marathons in history and has ambitions to win a record-breaking third consecutive Olympic gold at Paris 2024.

"I think I am happy to run a course record here in Tokyo," expressed Kipchoge, who joined a select club of athletes last year when he defended his 2016 Rio Olympics gold at the Tokyo Games.

He pointed out that "I am going back to Kenya to talk with the coaches, talk with the management, my team about the opportunities and the goals that we are going to set together because we are working as a team."

I am so proud to win in the streets of Tokyo, where the people have running in their heart and minds. It’s great to now have won 4 out of the 6 Abbott World Marathon Major races. Finally, I want to say I want this world to unite. My win today is to bring positivity in this world. pic.twitter.com/xBnEvTcPmY

— Eliud Kipchoge - EGH🇰🇪 (@EliudKipchoge) March 6, 2022

The Tokyo marathon was taking place for the first time in two years because of the pandemic, and it took an unexpected twist when the leading pack took a wrong turn around the 10km mark.

Writing history

Kipchoge was making his debut in Tokyo, one of the six major marathons alongside New York, Berlin, Chicago, London, and Boston.

He had already won in London, Chicago, and Berlin and it is one of his career objectives to win in all six.

The Kenyan made history in 2019 by breaking the two-hour barrier in a specially designed challenge run, but his 1:59.40 does not count as a world record primarily because of the use of 41 rotating pacemakers.