Kenya's Kirui retains world title in men's marathon
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Xinhua, September 4, 2011
Kenyan runner Abel Kirui retained his world title in the men's marathon in Daegu on Sunday after finishing the 42.195-kilometer race in two hours, seven minutes and 38 seconds.
The 29-year-olds now owned the two fastest time in the Worlds history as he set a championships record of 2:06:54 in his debut in Berlin two years ago.
His fellow Kenyan Vincent Kipruto, a newcomer to the world championships, crossed the line second 2:28 minutes behind, which is the biggest margin in the Worlds history.
Ethiopia's debutant Feyisa Lilesa, losing the silver medal battle in the final 2km, broke another medal sweep from the Kenyans by taking the bronze medal in 2:10:32.
The first final in Daegu on last Saturday had saw the Kenyan women making the first ever marathon medal sweep in the championships history.
Kirui pulled away early from a leading pack of three Kenyans and one Ethiopian after 25km and ran all the way alone to finish home with his seasonal best time.
With the two medals, Kenya has temporarily moved to the second place in the tally with 16 medals in total while their previous best in a world championships was 13 medal in Osaka 2007.
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