Eritrea's Ghebreslassie wins marathon in Beijing worlds (updated)
Xinhua, August 22, 2015 Adjust font size:
Ghirmay Ghebreslassie from Eritrea beat the scorching morning sun and a late chase by Ethiopia's Yemane Tsegay to win the men's marathon at the world athletics championships here on Saturday.
The 19-year-old clocked two hours, 12 minutes and 27 seconds for his first world championship title, beating Tsegay into second place.
The Ethiopian, who had once overtaken Ghebreslassie in the last kilometers, timed 2:13.07 for silver with Munyo Solomon Mutai from Uganda taking bronze in 2:13:29.
It was Eritrea's second ever world championship medal after Tadesse Zersenay's 10,000m silver in Berlin in 2009.
The Beijing worlds' first event took place under a crystal blue sky with the temperature registering 28 degrees centigrade. Endit