History beckons for Eliud Kipchoge at the Tokyo Olympics

Eliud Kipchoge will take centre stage at the Tokyo Olympics on 8 August 2021 when the Olympic Games men's marathon takes place in Sapporo.

No defending Olympic champion has won a second straight marathon gold medal since Waldemar Cierpinski did so at Moscow 1980 as the reigning champion from 1976.

Now, more than 40 years later, Kenya's Kipchoge will attempt to become just the third person, after Cierpinski and Ethiopian legend Abebe Bikila (1960, 1964) to win back-to-back Olympic marathon titles.

Kipchoge's training routine for Tokyo Olympics and how Covid affected it

Eliud Kipchoge always prefers training in a group rather than train individually. 

Kipchoge once commented, "You cannot train alone and expect to run a fast time. There is a formula: 100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team."

However, the Covid-19 pandemic changed that. Suddenly, Kipchoge was forced to run alone on his training sessions due to lockdown restrictions.

"It was really hard to go training and not mix with people to fight the virus," said Kipchoge. 

"Life has been hard but that is the way of the world – we need to get through it but I think we are on the right track to a brighter future.

At 1.67 meters tall and weighing just 52 kilograms, the 36-year-old has the perfect cross-country runner's physique. 

Added to this is his controlled, minimalist running style with around 180 steps per minute. 

What is Kipchoge's Diet?

Like most top athletes, Eliud Kipchoge stays away from artificial supplements to enhance his performance. 

Kipchoge's diet mainly includes lot of rice as well as the popular cereal porridge in Kenya, Ugali. The Kenyan also loves his chai (tea) as well as milk. He also prefers to eat Managu (an African crop similar to spinach)

Eluid Kipchoge: Amazing Facts

🏃 Eliud Kipchoge became the first man to run a marathon distance under two hours when he completed the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna in 1:59:40.

🏃 The Kenyan's famous trainers he wore during that milestone-breaking attempt have since been enshrined in London's Victoria and Albert Museum,

🏃 Kipchoge was part of Kenya's first major NFT – non-fungible token – auction.

🏃 For 2020, Eliud Kipchoge's net income was estimated to be around 3 million dollars. The following brands are working with Kipchoge as sponsors or partners: Nike, Ineos, Maurten, IsuzuNN Group, COROS Wearables

When is the Tokyo Olympics marathon scheduled?

The men's 42.195 km Marathon is scheduled on Aug. 8th, on the final day of the Olympic competition. 

Tokyo Olympics 2021: Marathon Course for Eliud Kipchoge and others

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to move the prestigious Marathon events more than to the north of Tokyo due to concerns over rising heat.

Odori Park will now be the start and endpoint for both marathons, as agreed by the IOC Executive Board on December 4.

The route features a large loop which is about the length of a half-marathon, followed by a second smaller loop which will be completed twice.