Alphonce Felix Simbu won gold on the first arrival with “Photo Finish” to determine the marathon winner in a world championship on Monday (15), surpassing German Amanal Petros in an exciting race until the finish line, giving Tanzania his first world title.
The photo of the arrival showed that the 42,195 km race was decided by three hundredths of second, with Simbu surpassing Petros on the finish line, closer than the difference of 0.05 second among gold and silver medalists in the 100 m male final, on Sunday (14).
Simbu and Petros received the same time of two hours, nine minutes and 48 seconds, with German taking silver, despite leading the platoon when the leaders entered the National Stadium of Tokyo. The Italian Iliass Aouani took the bronze with 2h09m53.
“When we entered the stadium, I wasn’t sure if I won,” said Simbu, 33. “I didn’t know if I had won. But when I saw the big screens and I at the top of the results, I felt relieved.”
“I made history today – the first Tanzanian gold medal in a world championship.”
The arrival was more disputed than at the 2001 World Cup in Edmonton, Canada, when Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera surpassed Kenyan Simon Biwott for just one second.
South African Josia Thugwane won the tighter men’s marathon, with three seconds advantage over South Korean Lee Bong-Ju at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
It was the first world title of Simbu, which won the bronze at the Marathon at the London World Cup in 2017, and ended second at the Boston Marathon in April.
Simbu’s victory came hours after the Frenchman Jimmy Gressier became the first man born outside East Africa to win the 10,000-meter world title in over 40 years.
The marathon began in the Japanese capital with a more common incident in speed races than in resistance tests, when Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich of Kenya burned, forcing a restart.
More surprises followed when two of the fastest runners of the race, the Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta Ethiopas, who won gold and silver in the tokyo city marathon in March, abandoned less than 10 km to the end.
The race was completely open for much of the distance, with about two dozen runners in the front group after about 90 minutes.
The platoon then gradually decreased as some dissipated in the morning heat, leaving Simbu, Petros and Aouani in front of the stadium.
Born in Eritreia, Petros seemed about to bring the title back to Europe, until Simbu found a final momentum and surpassed him on the finish line.
“It’s like 100 meters,” said Petros. “Arriving at the end, I was thinking of winning, so a part of me is feeling very sad.”
“But I have to accept. As an athlete, you have to learn, train hard, move on and be grateful for silver.”
