By Chris Chavez
December 22, 2023
Former marathon world record holder and two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and reigning London Marathon and Chicago Marathon winner Sifan Hassan are set to compete in the Tokyo Marathon on March 3.
Here’s what you need to know:
– Kipchoge won the Tokyo Marathon in 2022 with a course record time of 2:02:40.
– Kipchoge has said that one of his career goals is to try and win all six World Marathon Majors. Last year, competed at the Boston Marathon for the first time and finished sixth. He has yet to win in Boston and has not raced in the New York City Marathon. With the decision to run Tokyo, he will not run Boston, which is set for April 15.
– Kipchoge says the decision to run Tokyo in March allows him more time to prepare for his bid to become the first person to win three Olympic marathons and the oldest person to win any Olympic running event. Kipchoge won gold in the marathon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. He was named a finalist for Athletics Kenya’s marathon team, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
– With Kipchoge running Tokyo and world record holder Kelvin Kiptum set to run the Rotterdam Marathon in April, we will not see a clash between the two fastest marathoners in history until the Paris Olympics – if both guys are selected by Athletics Kenya.
– Sifan Hassan will go for her in her third career marathon in Tokyo. In April, she won her debut in London in 2:18:33 despite stopping to stretch and cramping. In October, she won Chicago with the second-fastest women's time in history in 2:13:44.
– Hassan returns to the city, where she achieved a historic feat at the Tokyo Olympics by winning medals in the 1500m (bronze), 5000m (gold), and 10,000m (gold) at the same Games.
– She has yet to announce which events she will compete in at the Paris Olympics. She came away from the World Championships in Budapest with a bronze medal in the 1500m and a silver medal in the 10,000m. She was set to medal in the 10,000m but fell just meters from the finish line. If she runs the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon at the Olympics, she would match Emil Zátopek's feat from the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
