Double Olympic marathon champion and world record holder Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge clinched the Tokyo Marathon title Sunday.
Kipchoge finished the race in a course record of 2 hours 2 minutes and 40 seconds, falling just over a minute short of his world record mark.
His 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 think I am happy to run a course record here in Tokyo," said Kipchoge, who joined a select club of athletes last year when he defended his 2016 Rio Olympics gold at Sapporo in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.
"I always say that I aim one thing at a time," he added.
"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," Kipchoge wrote on Twitter.
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 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.
He has already won in London, Chicago and Berlin and it is one of his career objectives to land all six.
Kipchoge said in January that he would be seeking to make it a record-breaking three consecutive Olympic titles at Paris 2024.
