Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Eliud Kipchoge will lead a group of five Kenyans during the Tokyo Marathon set for Sunday, March 3, 2024.

Kipchoge and Geoffrey Kamworor are high-profile athletes, and they will lead Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich, Timothy Kiplagat, and Benson Kipruto.

With Kiptum’s demise, a battle between Kipchoge and Kamworor is seen as a titanic showdown, given their experience and past victories.

Kipchoge, Kamworor analysis

Kipchoge will look back and get inspiration from his gold medal won during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

His most recent competitive run was when he featured in the Berlin Marathon in September and won after running in 2:04:42. 

“Tokyo is a different race. The culture of Japanese people is different. The Japanese people are into running.

“Marathons and road races are in Japanese blood. This is the place where you can see the spirit of running and how running is,” Kipchoge said when he landed in Japan, ready for the Sunday run.

For Kamworor to shine, he needs to be 100% fit given that injuries have sidelined him from action, and the latest marathon he could not take part in was the New York City one in November last year.

Kamworor was planning to run and hunt for a third title on the New York course after winning the 2017 and 2019 editions.

His focus is arguably on the Paris Olympic Games, having made the cut into the provisional squad, but the immediate issue is to see that he conquers the Tokyo Marathon and wins his first competition this year.