Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge celebrates winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the men’s marathon.Credit:AP
They lined up from 6am (Sapporo time) and in return,got something special. Kipchoge led by the 16-kilometre mark,fist-bumping his Brazilian counterpart Daniel do Nascimento as he passed him. Where others sweat,bobble and breathe,Kipchoge runs like a statue. His head planted firmly on his shoulders,his body seeming to move with a centripetal force.
The 36-year-old won with a time of 2:08:38. He holds the world record 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.
Eliud Kipchoge is set to go back-to-back after claiming gold in Rio.Credit:Getty
By the 26th kilometre,the lead group of nine had well and truly pulled away. They did it in almost 30-degree heat on a mercifully overcast day that still had humidity above 80 per cent. A third of the 105 starters did not make it to the finish line,including do Nascimento,who collapsed halfway through the race.
“It was absolute carnage,” said Australian Liam Adams,who finished 24th. Fellow Australian Brett Robinson finished in 66th place,but Jack Rayner pulled out in the early stages.
“Pretty much every marathon you do,you do it in winter. In these conditions,you don’t know if you’ve gone out too hard or too early,” Adams said.
Around Sapporo tower they went. The crowds of families and friends cheering the first and the last. Finally,a dose of Olympic normality for this strange Games.