A false start, a wrong turn and a dive at the line made for a very exciting start to Day 3 at the World Championships in Tokyo. Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu surged at the line to out-dip Germany’s Amanal Petros, taking the world title in 2:09:48 by less than one hundredth of a second–marking the closest marathon finish in championship history and Tanzania’s first-ever world championship gold.
Petros dove across the finish but settled for silver, also clocking 2:09:48, while Italy’s Iliass Aouani took bronze in 2:09:53. The previous closest world marathon finish, a one-second margin, took place in Edmonton in 2001.
Simbu was leading as the three-man lead pack approach the stadium, but lost his lead when he nearly took a wrong turn to enter the building. Petros took over the top position and threw down a blistering final 300-metre kick to the finish–but remarkably, Simbu was able to hold on.
Canadian record holder Cam Levins was in eighth with three kilometres to go, but faded to 12th, finishing in 2:11:07. Fellow Canadians Justin Kent (2:17:12) and Ben Preisner (2:17:32) took 35th and 36th.
For full results of the men’s marathon at the 2025 World Championships, click here.
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Canadian Running’s coverage of the 2025 World Athletics Championships is brought to you by ASICS Canada.
