Leila, Liina and Lily Luik from Estonia will make Olympics history when they cross the start line for the women's marathon in Rio.

Twins competing in the same event is not uncommon at the Olympic level. But the Luiks are believed to be the first identical triplets to compete against each other.

The blond, blue-eyed sisters from the southern Estonian university town of Tartu, now 30 years old, only took up serious distance running when they were 24.

"We have been active since childhood, we love dancing, we love to be active and this pushed us to professional sports," Lily said.