Kipruto faces Cheptegei in Tokyo Marathon title defense

Olympic marathon bronze medalist Benson Kipruto is set to defend his Tokyo Marathon title set for Sunday 2 March.

Kipruto won last year’s race in a 2:02:16 personal best (PB), a new record in Japan. He went on to clinch third place at the Paris Olympics.

His progression in the classic distance has been a beauty to witness since his debut in 2016 when he came second with a remarkable time of 2:13:24 at the Athens Classic Marathon.

Continuing with his impressive performance, Kipruto finished fourth in the Praha Marathon, clocking in at 2:09:51 on May 7, 2017, before claiming second place in the Gongju Dong-A Marathon still in 2017, completing the race in 2:07:21.

He won his first marathon at the 2018 Toronto Waterfront race, clocking 2:07:24, a victory that kickstarted his dominant career as he won in the 2021 Prague Marathon with a time of 2:10:16.

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In 2021, he won his first World Marathon Major race, the Boston Marathon, adding a second victory in the 2022 Chicago Marathon clocking 2:09:51 and 2:04:24 respectively.

In 2023, he finished second in the 2023 Chicago Marathon, with a personal best time of 2:04:02, three minutes behind the late Kelvin Kiptum who broke the Marathon world record. He was third in Boston.

Kipruto takes on world record holder for the 5000 m and the 10000m Joshua Cheptegei who made his marathon debut in Valencia in 2023, clocking 2:08:59.

Also on the field is Geleta Deresa of Ethiopia who has a PB 2:02:38 from his second-place finish at the Valencia Marathon last December and the closest challenger for the Kenyan. Kipruto’s compatriots Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich, who took third place last year, and Titus Kipruto who took fourth in Tokyo add to the depth.

Home runners will be led by Akasaki Akira who finished sixth in the Paris 2024.

Olympics, Ikeda Yohei who recorded the second-best time ever for a Japanese runner in the 2024 Berlin Marathon with an excellent time of 2:05:12, and the highly experienced Osako Suguru who has represented Japan in two consecutive Olympic Games.

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Men

Benson Kipruto (Kenya) - 2:02:16 (1st, Tokyo 2024)

Derese Geleta (Ethiopia) - 2:02:38 (2nd, Valencia 2024)

Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (Kenya) - 2:03:13 (2nd, Berlin 2023)

Tadese Takele (Ethiopia) - 2:03:24 (3rd, Berlin 2023)

Dawit Wolde (Ethiopia) - 2:03:48 (3rd, Valencia 2023)

Birhanu Legese (Ethiopia) - 2:04:44 (3rd, Amsterdam 2023)

Stephen Kissa (Uganda) - 2:04:48 (2nd, Hamburg 2022)

Tsegaye Getachew (Ethiopia) - 2:04:49 (1st, Amsterdam 2022)

Amedework Walelegn (Ethiopia) - 2:04:50 (2nd, Rotterdam 2024)

Titus Kipruto (Kenya) - 2:04:54 (2nd, Amsterdam 2022)

Leul Gebresilase (Ethiopia) - 2:04:56 (2nd, Rotterdam 2022)

Yohei Ikeda (Japan/Kao) - 2:05:12 (6th, Berlin 2024)

Mulugeta Asefa Uma (Ethiopia) - 2:05:33 (1st, Paris 2024)

Ichitaka Yamashita (Japan/Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:05:51 (7th, Tokyo 2023)

Kenya Sonota (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:05:59 (8th, Tokyo 2023)

Suguru Osako (Japan/Nike) - 2:06:13 (9th, Tokyo 2023)

Jie Hi (China) - 2:06:57 (4th, Wuxi 2024)

Vincent Kibor Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:07:01 (2nd, Fukuoka Int'l 2022)

Hiroto Inoue (Japan/Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:07:09 (10th, Tokyo 2023)

Shaohui Yang (China) - 2:07:09 (2nd, Fukuoka Int'l 2023)

Hendrik Pfeiffer (Germany) - 2:07:14 (3rd, Houston 2024)

Koki Yoshioka (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:07:28 (11th, Osaka 2023)

Gaku Hoshi (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:07:31 (1st, Osaka 2022)

Akira Akasaki (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:07:32 (6th, Paris Olympics 2024)

Shin Kimura (Japan/Honda) - 2:07:34 (14th, Tokyo 2024)

Suldan Hassan (Sweden) - 2:07:36 (9th, Sevilla 2024)

Tsubasa Ichiyama (Japan/Sunbelx) - 2:07:44 (3rd, Beppu-Oita 2023)

Tatsuya Maruyama (Japan/Toyota) - 2:07:50 (8th, Berlin 2022)

Yuhei Urano (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:07:52 (3rd, Osaka 2022)

Hidekazu Hijikata (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:02 (11th, Tokyo 2022)

Xiangdong Wu (China) - 2:08:04 (10th, Osaka 2024)

Kensuke Horio (Japan/M&A BP) - 2:08:25 (15th, Tokyo 2022)

Kiyoshi Koga (Japan/Yasukawa Denki) - 2:08:30 (4th, Beppu-Oita 2022)

Kenji Yamamoto (Japan/Mazda) - 2:08:33 (18th, Tokyo 2024)

Ryoma Takeuchi (Japan/ND Software) - 2:08:40 (3rd, Hofu 2023)

Naoki Aiba (Japan/Chudenko) - 2:08:44 (5th, Beppu-Oita 2022)

Yuichi Yasui (Japan/Toyota) - 2:08:48 (9th, Beppu-Oita 2023)

Rintaro Takeda (Japan/Yakult) - 2:08:48 (8th, Osaka 2022)

Ken Nakayama (Japan/Honda) - 2:08:52 (17th, Osaka 2024)

Takashi Ichida (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:57 (10th, Chicago 2023)

Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) - 2:08:59 (37th, Valencia 2023)

Kohei Futaoka (Japan/Chudenko) - 2:09:21 (17th, Tokyo 2023)

Shuho Dairokuno (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:26 (32nd, Osaka 2023)

Hideyuki Tanaka (Japan/Toyota) - 2:09:27 (21st, Osaka 2024)

Tadashi Isshiki (Japan/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:09:32 (11th, Osaka 2022)

Takayuki Iida (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:09:34 (5th, Prague 2023)

Yuma Morii (Japan/Kyoto T&F Assoc.) - 2:09:59 (8th, Boston 2024)

Debut

Benard Kibet Koech (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 58:45 (1st, RAK Half 2023)

Geoffrey Toroitich (Kenya) - 59:13 (1st, Malaga Half 2023)

Ayumu Kobayashi (Japan/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:00:44 (10th, Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Aoi Ota (Japan/Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:30 (8th, Shanghai Half 2024)