World record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya became just the third man in history to win back-to-back gold medals in the men’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday morning in Tokyo. At 36 years old, Kipchoge now owns two Olympic gold medals in the marathon, the world record and the only sub-two-hour marathon in history from a world record ineligible exhibition race.
Kipchoge delivered a crushing blow to the rest of the field just before the 30-kilometer mark. Galen Rupp, the United States Olympic trials champion and 2016 Olympic marathon bronze medalist, was running right on Kipchoge’s heels, so Kipchoge turned around to signal for some space.