TOKYO -- Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania beat Amanal Petros of Germany by three hundredths of a second in an extraordinary, nail-biting men's marathon at the World Athletics Championships on Monday morning.
Both Simbu and Petros completed the 42.195km course in hot and humid Tokyo conditions in a time of 2:09:48, hitting the tape in unison and requiring a nervous photo finish to determine the victor of the prestigious race.
Petros had held a narrow advantage with 50 meters to race, but Simbu found another gear as the pair sprinted down the straight of Japan National Stadium. The 33-year-old edged in front on the final stride to win the closest marathon in world championship history and become the first Tanzanian to win gold at the championships.
"I made history today," said Simbu, following his victory. "I remember in 2017, at the world championships in London, I won bronze. Then I ran many times but never got any medals, so finally it is here. When I arrived here, I told myself I was not going to give up. I just stayed with the group; it helped me, and it ended really well. Just look at the finish and the kick."
The 0.03s margin between the Simbu and Petros was tighter than either of the 100m finals -- taken out by Oblique Seville and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, respectively -- on night two in Tokyo. Behind Petros in second place was Italy's Iliass Aouani, who claimed the bronze medal in a time of 2:09:53.
"I have never seen something like this in a marathon. It's like the 100 meters," said Petros, after falling agonizingly short of gold. "As an athlete, you have to learn for tomorrow, train hard, keep going and be thankful for the silver."
The triumph continues an incredibly impressive year for Simbu, who also finished runner-up at the Boston Marathon in April.
The result also marked the second consecutive day a marathon came down to the wire. On day two, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya beat Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa by just 0.2s