(CNN) After winning the men's Olympic marathon at Tokyo 2020, Eliud Kipchoge disarmingly remarked that he'd "wanted to test my fitness" and gauge how he was "feeling." By winning Sunday's race the 36-year-old Kenyan became the third man to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. Kipchoge's victory completed a marathon double for Kenya after Peres Jepchirchir's gold in the women's race the day before. He also follows in the footsteps of Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila and East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski as a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. "I wanted to create a space (between the other runners) to show the world that this is a beautiful race," the 36-year-old Kipchoge later said.

Source: CNN August 08, 2021 12:11 UTC