About 30 kilometres into the men's marathon in Sapporo, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge pulled away from the pack and began running his own race, chasing immortality, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Kipchoge looked like a man determined to run towards his legacy of greatness. He took a peak behind him at one point and there was no one there. He was all alone - the greatest marathon runner in history and one of the greatest Olympians.
"I wanted to create a space to show the world that this is a beautiful race," Kipchoge said after winning gold.
He began to smile as marathon-mad Japanese fans, who defied Olympic organisers' request to stay away due to COVID-19, lined up the streets of Sapporo and cheered him on to the finish line.
Kipchoge was about to become only the third person ever to retain their Olympic marathon title, and cement his legacy. Smiling was his way of enjoying the race, he said later.
"That smile is the happiness," he said.
He waved at the fans as he came through the tape, slapped his chest and pumped his fist into the air.
"I have fulfilled the legacy by winning the marathon for the second time, back-to-back. I hope now to help inspire the next generation," he said.