The 21-year-old produced a final lap sprint that saw him grab gold in an Olympic record 8 minutes 3.28 seconds.
Kipruto was so far ahead of his rivals that he started celebrating and waving to the crowd at the start of the final straight.
Evan Jager won a rare medal for the United States in the race - their first since 1984 - overtakingKenya's double Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi in the last 50 metres to take silver.
Reuters