MARATHON
WHEN Eliud Kipchoge stormed to victory in the London Marathon in April, he confirmed his position as favourite to win the Olympic title. It was his sixth win over 26.2 miles in seven races in times ranging from 2:03:05 to 2:05:30 against topclass opposition at a variety of big-city marathons.
Surely he could not be beaten. Yet this was the Olympic marathon – an unpredictable, lottery of a race which shows no respect for reputation and has a history full of gold medallists who were barely known before they toed the line.