Kenya has produced the winner of the mens London marathon 10 times in the last 12 years and their dominance of the event doesnt look likely to subside in the 2016 event on 24 April. Reigning champion Eliud Kipchoge and two-time winner Wilson Kipsang, the course record time-holder, will be among the favourites.

Yes, I think of the previous performances against these guys, I have run very well. I have got lots of experience from winning this race twice and of the guys running I am the only one to have won twice. I know the course very well and I am really very positive, said Kipsang.

With the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero just around the corner, many of the athletes see London as a big chance to prove themselves worthy of a spot in the Kenyan team for the games. Kipsang, who won bronze at London 2012, says that this time he is aiming for gold and Kipchoge stressed that everything was focussed on achieving glory in Rio. It will really mean more than anything else, added Kipchoge.

Kenya will hope to be able to send a team to the Rio Olympics, although they are currently under huge scrutiny by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). Up to 40 Kenyan athletes have failed doping tests since 2012, the biggest name among them being former three-time Boston City Marathon and Chicago Marathon champion Rita Jeptoo, now serving a ban.

Kenyas parliament has passed an anti-doping bill, required to avoid a possible ban from the Rio Olympics, and President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to sign it into law this week. Kenyatta said last week he would sign the bill into law to ensure that Kenya was not barred from the Rio Olympics.

I am happy for the country at the passing of the bill. Soon it will be ascended by the president to become the law and now the question of restricting Kenya from Rio is out of the question. That is my happiness, said Kipchoge. Everything is in place and there is no doubt that Kenya will be allowed, he stressed.

Dennis Kimetto, the marathon world record holder, is another Kenyan who will fancy his chances. However, Kimetto has struggled for form over the past 18 months, failing to win a major competition since the 2014 Berlin Marathon, when he set his world record time of 2:02:57.