Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge will compete at the Hamburg Marathon in April as he steps up preparations for his Olympic title defence.

Kipchoge, who set the world record of 2:01:39 in Berlin in September 2018, revealed on Thursday that he'll be returning to the German race where he made his victorious marathon debut in 2013.

"In Hamburg, I am going back to the genesis of my marathon career," tweeted Kipchoge, who is vying to become the third man to win successive Olympic marathon golds after his victory in Rio in 2016.

The 36-year-old, the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours, in an unofficial race in 2019, suffered a rare loss, finishing eighth in his last outing at the London Marathon in October.

The Hamburg Marathon, scheduled for April 11, will feature about 100 elite athletes on a looped 10.5 km course.