After winning in 2011 and 2012, the diminutive Kenyan suffered her first defeat on the London course 12 months ago when she lost touch with Tigist Tufa over the final three miles and hung on to the runners-up spot by just one second, holding off a second Ethiopian Tirfi Tsegaye in 2:23:40.

After winning her second New York Marathon last November to claim the Series IX Abbott World Marathon Majors prize, Keitany insists she is ready to join Ingrid Kristiansen, Katrin Dorre and Paula Radcliffe as only the fourth woman to win the London Marathon three times.

“To win here for a third time would be great for me because it would be historic,” she said. “It would remain in my life. I would love to win again on Sunday.

“Last year I lost but this year I’m in good form to run well again. I also want to run a good time.

“Last year we ran slowly – 2:23 in London is not good – so I think I will be OK and run better this time.

“My body did not react the way I wanted it to, so I was going too slowly. But I think my body will go the way I am expecting this year. For me, to run faster is good.”

She is already the second fastest woman over the London course – and the second fastest in history behind Radcliffe – thanks to the African record of 2:18:37 she clocked when winning in 2012, a performance that guaranteed her place on Kenya’s London 2012 Olympic team.

But Keitany’s hopes of a medal were dashed when she could only finish fourth on a day of drenching August rain in the British capital, missing out on the podium by less than half a second.

That set-back was less of a surprise than it seemed, however, for Keitany discovered later that she was two months pregnant with her second child. Samantha, who was born early in 2013, will be here on Sunday to watch Keitany race, along with her eight-year-old brother, Jared, and dad, Charles Koech.

The disappointment of the London Games is still fresh for Samantha’s running mum, however, giving the 34-year-old extra motivation for Sunday’s race when the performances of Kenyan athletes are likely to determine their chances of Olympic selection for Rio this summer.

“I have to run this race first, but I do want to be in the team,” said Keitany. “I hope I will be able to run well in Rio and at least get a medal for my country.”

The looming Games are even more of a spur for Florence Kiplagat, the world half marathon record holder who has finished fourth, sixth, second and fifth in London, but never won the title.

The most heart-wrenching of those defeats was the first, when she missed out on an Olympic place four years ago because the three women ahead of her were all Kenyans too.

“I would love to run at the Olympics, that’s my dream,” she said. “I need to go to the Olympics.

“Last time I was fourth at the trials on the track and fourth at the marathon, so this year I need to go. Rio is my big goal, my dream.”

The Kenyan federation’s selection criteria has not been revealed to the athletes, but the current Chicago Marathon champion believes she needs to win again on Sunday to get the nod and has geared her training to that target.

She came to London last year just two months after breaking the half marathon record for a second time in Barcelona, but this time has tailored her conditioning to the London race.

“I am a little later in my training this year,” she said. “Last year I was in good shape in February. This year I decided to make sure I am in top shape two weeks before London.

“Three years in a row I have been close here but this year I need to get it right. I need to be number one. My desire is to be in the Olympics.

One Kenyan who knows what it’s like to be number one in London is Priscah Jeptoo, the 2013 champion when she also won the World Marathon Majors crown. Jeptoo had kept Kiplagat out of the Olympics by finishing third at the previous year’s London Marathon and went on to clinch silver at the 2012 Games, missing gold by just five seconds.

But two years of consistently high performances came to an end in 2014 when she dropped out in London with a calf injury.

“That created a lot of problems for me,” said Jeptoo, who could only finish seventh here last year. “But now I’m much better. I’m trying to come back and run close to my PB on Sunday.

“The Olympic silver was a surprise to me,” she added. “At that time I was not experienced. Now I have done many marathons and am much more experienced.

“I will be ready for the last three miles this time. It would be good to win again in London.”

Whoever wins on Sunday, they may need to overcome more than just the distance as cool winds and wintry conditions are forecast.

“It will be the same for everybody,” said Keitany when she heard the news. “I will be ready for everything.”

Source: Virgin Money London Marathon