The 36-year-old made his marathon debut in Hamburg in 2013, having moved from the track - where he won the world 5,000m title in 2003 - after failing to make the Kenyan team.

If Kipchoge can win in Sapporo - which is hosting the marathon events after they were moved from Tokyo - on August 8 he will become only the third man to win two Olympic marathon titles following the successes of Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964, and East Germany’s Waldemar Cierpinski in 1976 and 1980.

Every major city marathon scheduled for the winter and spring has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The elite-only event in Hamburg, with around 100 invited runners on a 10.5 kilometres loop, fits the bill for the man who holds the official marathon world record of 2 hours 01min 39sec, and also became the first man to cover the distance in less than two hours in the specially set-up event in Vienna in 2019.

"In these challenging times and with the road race calendar for the first half of 2021 decimated by the pandemic, the involved parties were keen to arrange the race to provide a much-needed competitive opportunity for the athletes," Kipchoge said.

"In Hamburg, I am going back to the genesis of my marathon career."

Kipchoge has won 11 of his 13 marathons.

His run of 10 successive victories ended in his last race, the London Marathon on October 4 last year.

In cold and wet conditions, Kipchoge finished eighth, citing a blockage in his right ear over the last 10 miles and leg and hip cramping.