Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is broadly considered one of many world’s best distance runners. At 28, he already holds world data within the 5,000m and 10,000m on the observe. Nevertheless, his spectacular observe instances didn’t translate to the roads in his marathon debut in December 2023, the place he completed with a time of two:08:59. Decided to offer the gap one other shot, Cheptegei will headline the 2025 Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 2.
Cheptegei introduced his return to the marathon on Instagram, writing, “I’ve stood on podiums and set world data, however true greatness is about the way you rise after you fall. Tokyo, I’m able to rise once more.”
Many consider Cheptegei has the potential to hitch the ranks of the marathon greats. In an interview, Eliud Kipchoge mentioned, “If there’s one runner who can shatter the lads’s marathon world document, it’s Joshua. He’s already a document holder in different fields and has an enormous likelihood to interrupt a world document within the marathon.”
Cheptegei’s marathon debut on the 2023 Valencia Marathon didn’t go as deliberate. He aimed to run round 2:04, however faltered within the last 10 kilometres, ending in 2:08:59, for thirty seventh place. Whereas sub-2:10 continues to be glorious for a debut, there have been excessive expectations for the three-time Olympic medallist and world document holder.
Cheptegei enters Tokyo after two sturdy performances: profitable Olympic gold within the males’s 10,000m with a Video games document of 26:43.14 and setting a half-marathon private better of 59:46 on the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon in India, which he gained. His marathon potential stays a subject of curiosity for a lot of followers of distance operating, however given his inexperience over the gap, he’s more likely to pursue the same time objective as in Valencia.
The Tokyo Marathon course isn’t recognized to be as quick as Valencia’s, however three of the final 4 males’s profitable instances have been below two hours and 5 minutes. Kenya’s Benson Kipruto gained the 2024 race in a course document 2:02:16.
Kipruto may also return for this yr’s Tokyo Marathon, trying to defend his title towards the three-time Olympic medallist from Uganda. Like Cheptegei, Kipruto additionally loved success on the Paris Olympic Video games, profitable a bronze medal for Kenya within the males’s marathon behind Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi.
There are not any Canadian elites within the males’s or ladies’s skilled fields for the 2025 Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 2. The race will function a preview for a lot of elites hoping to qualify and compete for his or her nation within the marathon occasion on the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.