Long distance superstar Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya destroyed his competition to win his second gold medal on the spin byba shockingly wide margin. The race was moved from Tokyo to Sapporo where there was supposedly cooler conditions, there was no such breaks for the runners. Sapporo's temperature was scorching hot. It ended up being a race not to win but to finish the race for some, it was that brutal. So how did Eliud manage to do that, and finish 4 minutes over 2 hours?

Hydration , hydration hydration. I counted the number of bottles he used over the course to well over 20( I admit I could have lost count). Hydration keeps the core body temperature low so as not to suffer heat stroke. It also helps to keep blood circulating to get the much needed nutrients to those cells.Kipchoge was also strategic. He didn't overcommit in the opening 20 km or so but he didn't fall too back either, he kept himself placed in that top 5. He seized the lead on 30km after sensing his fellow runners were tiring. Galen Rupp of the USA who won bronze in Rio 2016 was snapping at the heels of Eliud in his haste to keep up with him such that the Kenyan at some point asked for space. Such was the desperation to keep up with him.

Kipchoge becoming only the third man to win back to back marathon gold. It would have been 2 Kenyans at the podium had Cheroni found second wind right at the end there. He was pipped by Holland's Nageeye and Belgium's Abdi.