The Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali ended the Kenyan run dominance over 3000 meters obstacle at the Olympic Games.
The fourth in Rio de Janeiro 2016 triumphed in Tokyo on Monday after a confident final sprint in 8: 08.90 minutes.
The Kenyans had always won gold at this distance since 1984, and in 1976 and 1980 they boycotted the games.
The best runner from the East African country was Benjamin Kigel (8: 11.45) in third place.
Silver went to the world's best of the year Lamecha Girma from Ethiopia in 8: 10.38 minutes.
The 25-year-old El Bakkali was second in the 2017 World Cup and third in 2019 and only completed two races this season before his Olympic victory. World champion and Rio gold medalist Conseslus Kipruto, who is involved in a criminal case and was not nominated for Kenya's team, was not there. Karl Bebendorf from Dresden was the only German participant to be eliminated in the preliminary run.