Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge is confident he can win a historic third successive Olympic marathon gold medal in Paris this year.
The 39-year-old, who was victorious in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, finished 10th in this year’s Tokyo Marathon in March.
Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila (1964) and East Germany’s Waldemar Cierpinski (1980) are the only other men to defend an Olympic marathon title.
“My huge expectation actually is to win the Olympics for the third time,” said Kipchoge.
Last week Kipchoge was named alongside two-time Boston Marathon champion Benson Kipruto, Timothy Kiplagat, Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich and newcomer Alexander Mutiso on Kenya’s marathon shortlist for the Paris Games, which begin on 26 July and end on 11 August.
Kipruto won this year’s Tokyo Marathon in a time of two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds, with Kiplagat and Ngetich completing the podium.
Kipchoge finished over four and a half minutes adrift of Kipruto in Japan, but that result has not made him concerned about his chances in Paris on 10 August.
“I think I just got tired,” he explained.
“I don’t know what happened but it’s life, it’s sport. It’s the beauty of sport.”