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LONDON: Geoffrey Kirui gave Kenya a record fifth men’s marathon title at the world championships on Sunday, winning a seesaw 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.
Rose Chelimo, a runner from Kenya now competing for Bahrain, pulled away near the finish to win the women’s marathon.
In a back-and-forth race, Chelimo held off two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat by seven seconds, with American runner Amy Cragg taking third. Chelimo finished in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 11 seconds.
Kiplagat barely beat a hard-charging Cragg.
“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.
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.
Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands set a huge javelin mark of 58.41 meters to move into bronze medal position overall. Thiam was second with a throw of 53.93.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, medal contender Ronald Levy of Jamaica failed to make it into the semifinals after clipping the first hurdle with his trailing leg.
Aries Merritt of the United States, who won the Olympic title in London five years ago, easily went through with a top time of 13.16 seconds, .07 seconds ahead of reigning Olympic champion Omar McLeod of Jamaica.
After the Americans went 1-2 in the men’s 100 meters with Justin Gatlin taking gold and reducing Usain Bolt to bronze, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson will be seeking to get one back for Jamaica. Tori Bowie leads the US challenge.
The US team could well win more medals with Ryan Crouser favored to add the world title to his Olympic shot put gold.