Alphonce Felix Simbu clinched gold in a dramatic photo finish Monday, edging German runner Amanal Petros to give Tanzania its first world marathon title.
The 42.195-kilometer race came down to three-hundredths of a second, as Simbu surged past a diving Petros at the line – an even tighter margin than the 0.05-second gap separating gold and silver in Sunday’s men’s 100 meters.
Both Simbu and Petros were officially credited with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 48 seconds, with Petros taking silver despite leading as the runners entered Tokyo’s National Stadium. Italian Iliass Aouani claimed bronze in 2:09.53.
“When we entered the stadium, I was not sure if I would win,” the 33-year-old Simbu said. “I did not know if I had won. But when I saw the video screens and my name at the top of the results, I felt relieved. I made history today – the first Tanzanian gold medal at a world championships.”
The finish was closer than the 2001 championships in Edmonton, when Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera edged Kenyan Simon Biwott by a single second. South African Josia Thugwane won the closest Olympic men’s marathon by three seconds over South Korea’s Lee Bong-ju at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
It was Simbu’s first global title. He won bronze in the marathon at the London world championships in 2017 and finished second in the Boston Marathon in April.
Simbu struck back for East African distance running the morning after Frenchman Jimmy Gressier became the first man born outside the region to win the 10,000 meters title in more than 40 years.
The early morning event opened with another incident more reminiscent of sprints than endurance races when Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich of Kenya false-started, forcing a restart.
More shocks followed as two of the fastest runners in the field, Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta, who won gold and silver at the Tokyo City Marathon in March, dropped off with less than 10 kilometers to go.
The race was wide open for much of the distance, with a couple of dozen runners in the lead pack some 90 minutes in. The pack gradually thinned in the morning heat, leaving Simbu, Petros, and Aouani clear of the field coming into the stadium.
Eritrean-born Petros looked set to take the title back to Europe until Simbu found a late kick and ran him down at the line.
“It’s like the 100 meters,” Petros said. “Coming into the finish I was thinking about winning, so a bit of me is feeling very sad. But I have to accept it. As an athlete, you have to learn for tomorrow, train hard, keep going, and be thankful for the silver.”
Bol cruises in 400-meter hurdles heats
On the third morning of the championships, defending champion Femke Bol cruised into the semifinals of the women’s 400-meter hurdles in 53.75 seconds.
The Dutchwoman is expected to retain her title after world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opted to run the 400 meters flat in Tokyo.
Rio Olympics champion Dalilah Muhammad progressed in 53.80, showing her 35-year-old legs still have plenty of speed as she targets a second world title.
Canadian rising star Savannah Sutherland, the third-fastest woman in the world this year, finished fifth in the final heat, and her time of 55.68 was not enough to advance as one of the “fastest losers.”
Women’s pole vault qualifying was delayed by a technical issue, but the competition was brief once it resumed. Organizers set the standard at 4.60 meters, and gold medal favorite Katie Moon led 13 other women into the final.
Britain’s former world indoor champion Molly Caudery was forced to withdraw after injuring her ankle in the warm-up. American Moon shared the title at the 2023 world championships with Paris Olympics champion Nina Kennedy, who did not compete in Tokyo because of a leg injury.
Olympic and world champion Ethan Katzberg safely led the main contenders through men’s hammer qualifying with a throw of 81.85 meters, the only effort to surpass 80 meters.
Tokyo Olympics champion Peruth Chemutai set the fastest time in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase heats, winning the third race in 9:07.68. World and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain won the slower second heat in 9:15.63, while Kenya’s world and Olympic bronze medalist Faith Cherotich progressed with a time of 9:13.95.
