Geoffrey Kirui gave Kenya a record fifth men's marathon title at the world championships on Sunday, winning a see-saw race with Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia that finished on london's famed Tower Bridge.
Kirui had to come from behind to pass Tola in the final quarter of the race. And once he got through the winding streets of london, Kirui found the way clear for a victorious run along the River Thames over the last miles.
Kirui won in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 27 seconds, creating such a gap over Tola that he had time to slap the outstretched hands of fans in the finishing straight before crossing the line. Tola weakened at the end and just held off bronze medalist Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania at the end. Tola first shook off Kirui about three-quarters through the race but overestimated his strength. Slowly, the Kenyan came back and took over the lead by the 35-kilometer mark.
"I feared the Ethiopian because he had such a fast time, so I just followed my plan to 35K and then felt my body to see how I was doing," Kirui said. "Good for me it responded well."
Kirui, who won the Boston Marathon in April, got his nation its first men's marathon title since 2011.
THIAM lEADS STRONGlY
In the Olympic Stadium, Nafi Thiam extended her lead with a strong showing in the javelin, the penultimate event in the heptathlon.
With only the 800-meter race to go later Sunday, the Olympic champion has 5,980 points, 172 more than Carolin Schaefer of Germany.
If Thiam gets around the two laps of the track without a serious incident, she should be able to add the world title to her Olympic gold.
Nirmala in 400m semis
Quarter miler Nirmala Sheoran's semi-final qualification in the women's 400m was the saving grace in yet another disappointing day for India at the World Athletics Championship.
In the men's marathon, T Gopi finished a poor 28th while Siddhanth Thingalaya crashed out in the heats, finishing seventh in the 110m hurdles.
The 22-year-old Nirmala clocked 52.01 seconds to finish fourth in her heat in the women's 400m first round. She took the last spot among the six best finishers.
The Haryana girl will have to come up with a performance better than her personal best of 51.20 seconds in the semifinals on Monday if she wants to qualify for the final. 19-year-old Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain led the 24 qualifiers into the semifinals with a time of 50.57 secs.