TOKYO – Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu snatched marathon gold at the World Athletics Championships by the smallest of margins on Monday, edging out German Amanal Petros in a dramatic race to the line.

Hitting the tape in two hours, nine minutes and 48 seconds, 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 10,000km title for more than 40 years.

Petros was given the same time to earn silver while Italian Iliass Aouani took the bronze in 2:09.53.

It was the tightest ever finish in a marathon at the world championship, closer than the 2001 race in Edmonton when Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera edged Kenyan Simon Biwott by a single second.

German Petros had led around Tokyo’s National Stadium track for the final sprint, only to be overtaken by a late surge from 33-year-old Simbu at the finish line.

It was first global title for Simbu, who won bronze in the marathon at the London world championships in 2017 and finished second in the Boston marathon in April.

The early morning event had surprises from the get-go, beginning with a restart after a jittery Vincent Ngetich of Kenya jumped the gun.

More shocks followed as two of the fastest runners in the field, Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta, who took gold and silver at the Tokyo city marathon in March, dropped off with less than 10km to go.

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