'Niko tayari': Eliud Kipchoge seeks to defend Olympic title

Kenya's greatest marathoner Eliud Kipchoge will be seeking to defend his title in the men’s marathon in the ongoing 2020 Olympics in Japan.

The marathon will be held on Sunday, August 8, and all eyes are set on Kipchoge, the man who ran the marathon in under two hours during the 2019 INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

Through his Twitter account on Wednesday, Kipchoge said that he is loooking forward to a wonderful event.

“It is great that we are able to run the Olympic marathon in these unusual times. On Sunday, I will try to defend my Olympic marathon title from Rio de Janeiro. I cannot wait to witness a wonderful event. Niko tayari (I am ready),” Kipchoge said.

Kipchoge won the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon after finishing the race at 2:08:44.

The marathon is expected to attract more than 80 athletes, who qualified for the entry standard (2:11:30).

Kipchoge has been a common figure in marathons since 2013 when he won his first marathon during the Hamburg Marathon.

He has also won the London Marathon a record four times.

By Wednesday, Kenya was sitting at position 38 in medals standings with a total of five medals; 1 Gold, 2 Silvers and 2 Bronze.

Emmanuel Korir bagged the first gold for Kenya on Wednesday during the Men's 800m final.

Korir clocked 1:45.06 to finish ahead of compatriot Ferguson Rotich (1:45.23) and Polish Patryk Dobek (1:45.39) in second and third respectively.

Edited by CM