Eliud Kipchoge to race at 2020 London Marathon
- Published
Kipchoge wins the London Marathon in 2019 with second-fastest time ever
Kenyan great Eliud Kipchoge will return to racing for the first time since his historic sub-two hour marathon in April's London Marathon.
Kipchoge, 35, will be bidding to become the first athlete to win the elite men's race five times on 26 April.
"I love running in London where the crowd support is always wonderful," he said.
The world record holder has won on all four of his previous visits to London, setting a course record this year.
His ground-breaking time of one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in Austria in October was the first time a human had covered the marathon distance in less than two hours.
However, it is not classed as a world record because various aspects of the specially designed challenge - such as rotating pacemakers and bike-delivered drinks - ruled his time ineligible.
He has been has been voted 大象传媒 Sports Personality's World Sport Star of the Year for 2019.
Watch 'history unfold' as Eliud Kipchoge runs marathon in under two hours
Kipchoge, who also won marathon gold at Rio 2016, is the first name to be announced for the elite race.
Last year in London, Britain's Mo Farah was one of those left in his wake, finishing fifth.
Farah, 36, has since announced that he will return to the track in a bid to defend his Olympic 10,000m title in Tokyo, ending any prospect of the pair reuniting on the startline.
Kipchoge will be bidding to surpass Norwegian great Ingrid Kristiansen, who won four women's races between 1984 and 1988.
British wheelchair athletes David Weir and Tanni Grey-Thompson have won the race eight and six times respectively.