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Japanese Connection Pays Off for Champion.
Byline: Elias Makori in Beijing
At 3.00 pm on Saturday afternoon, three gentlemen sat at an isolated table at the UBC Coffee House next to the Beijing Olympic Village, plotting what would turn out to be a very important chapter in Kenyan history.
Stephen Mayaka, Katsushi Fuchiki and Samuel Wanjiru could be mistaken for any other group of friends out on a meeting date over coffee but the trio was in final preparations on how Kenya - a country blessed with an abundance of sub two hours 10 minutes marathon runners - would win its first Olympic marathon gold medal.
And this Wanjiru did in an Olympic record time of two hours, six minute and 32 seconds, an improvement on Spain's Carlos Lopez's (2:09.21) set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Lopez was among journalists and officials who …
