After 26 miles around the streets of Tokyo, the men’s marathon came down to a thrilling sprint finish as Alphonce Simbu pipped Amanal Petros by the narrowest of margins to kick off the third day of competition at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on Monday (15).
In winning by just three hundredths of a second – both athletes crossing the finish line in the Japan National Stadium in 2:09:48 but with Simbu a fraction ahead – the Tanzanian 33-year-old became his nation’s first ever global gold medallist.
He adds this world title to the world marathon bronze he claimed in London in 2017 and his runner-up finishes at the Boston Marathon earlier this year and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Germany’s Petros had led as the race left the roads and entered the stadium, and he was still to the fore as they hit the final straight, but Simbu timed his kick to perfection.
They were followed over the finish line by Italy’s Iliass Aouani, bronze medallist in 2:09:53.
Full report
Results: 1 Alphonce Simbu (TAN) 2:09:48, 2 Amanal Petros (GER) 2:09:48, 3 Iliass Aouani (ITA) 2:09:53
In the rounds…
Olympic and world champion Ethan Katzberg made a statement in men’s hammer qualifying during Monday’s morning session. He threw 81.85m from his first attempt – father than his world gold medal winning mark from Budapest two years ago. Other automatic qualifiers for the final include world leader Bence Halasz, Pawel Fajdek and Rudy Winkler.
Defending champion Femke Bol cruised through the 400m hurdles heats. She’ll be joined in the semifinals by Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell and 2019 world champion Dalilah Muhammad, who plans to retire at the end of the season.
Defending champion Winfred Yavi, Faith Cherotich and Peruth Chemutai won their heats to lead the list of qualifiers for the steeplechase final.
Defending champion Katie Moon and her fellow global gold medallists Marie-Julie Bonnin and Sandi Morris were among the 14 athletes to qualify for the pole vault final. They won’t be joined by 2024 world indoor champion Molly Caudery or world bronze medallist Wilma Murto, however, as Caudery was taken from the track in a wheelchair and did not start, and Murto was unable to record a mark.
AloJapan.com