Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania edged Amanal Petros of Germany in a photo finish to the men’s marathon at the World Track and Field Championships.
Simbu and Petros both ran 2:09:48 in Tokyo, with Simbu getting the win by three hundredths of a second. It’s the closest world championships marathon in history and was closer than either of Sunday’s men’s and women’s 100m finals.
Simbu overtook Petros in the sprint finish after they entered the stadium for the final lap with Italian Iliass Aouani, who took bronze in 2:09:53.
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Simbu became the first Tanzanian to win an Olympic or world championships gold medal in any track and field event. He previously took bronze in the world championships marathon in 2017.
Simbu, a Closing Ceremony flagbearer at the last three Olympics, was runner-up (in a near-photo finish with third place) at the Boston Marathon this past April behind Kenyan John Korir.
U.S. Olympian Clayton Young was in a leading group of nine until he was dropped in the 25th mile of the 26.2-mile race. Young, who fell in the ninth mile, ended up ninth in 2:10:43.
Worlds continue Monday at 5:15 a.m. ET (Peacock) and 6:30 a.m. ET (USA Network), featuring finals in the women’s 100m hurdles and men’s pole vault.
