By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
TOKYO (15-Sep) — On a sweltering morning here Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu executed a superb come-from-behind sprint finish on the track at National Stadium to win the men’s marathon at the 20th World Championships in Athletics by just a fraction of a second over Germany’s Amanal Petros (both men were timed in 2:09:48). Simbu, 33, who won the bronze medal at the World Championships in London back in 2017, became the first Tanzanian man to become a world athletics champion in any discipline.
“I made history today: the first Tanzanian gold medal at a world championships,” Simbu told the event’s flash quotes team after his race. “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.”
Simbu’s win came after a classic –and by modern-day standards slow– race of attrition. At the 07:30 starting time the temperature was already 80F/27C accompanied by 81% humidity. There was little cloud cover and the athletes began to suffer early in the race.
But the conditions did not deter reigning world champion Victor Kiplangat. The Ugandan put himself at the lead of the race early and was determined to control the pace. He was at the front through 5-K with Kenya’s Vincent Ngetich, Petros, Simbu, and two of his teammates, Abel Chelangat and Stephen Kissa. He was just feeling things out.
“It was my plan to let me push, checking on the guys to see how strong they are,” Kiplangat told Race Results Weekly. “That’s why I was pushing for some meters.”
The race quickly became a grind-fest. The next three 5-kilometer segments were passed in 15:26, 15:38, and 15:29, respectively. Kiplangat and the Ugandan team remained at or close to the front, but the pace was gentle enough that the lead pack at halfway (1:05:19) was a whopping 39 athletes.
Finally, the first big move of the race happened. Zimbabwe’s Isaac Mpofu decided to move to the lead, and the 5-kilometer segment through the 25-K point was covered in 15:17, the fastest of the race. Although the field was only running on pace for a 2:10 finish, that was fast enough in the hot and humid conditions to cut the lead pack to 26. That group included Italy’s Ilias Aouani, the reigning European marathon champion who ran for Syracuse University during his NCAA career. Aouani, who is trained by legendary coach Massimo Magnani, was waiting for someone to make a move. It wasn’t going to be him.
“I’m waiting for others to make their move,” Aouani told Race Results Weekly. “I didn’t want to be the rabbit to be chased.”
With the pace down closer to three minutes per kilometer, the lead group began to fall apart, albeit slowly. The next 5-K segment went into the books in 15:16, which took the group down to 23. That was still too many for Kiplangat, so he decided to take action. He surged ahead in the 32nd kilometer and by the 33-K point the pack was cut to 15.
But that move would take its toll on the soft-spoken Ugandan. He started to experience both leg and body pain, and despite leading at 35-K (1:47:47) he slipped to 13th by 40-K and 15th by the finish.
“The last six-K, four-K the legs were not feeling well,” Kiplangat lamented. “I was feeling some pain.”
But Simbu liked the pace, and before the race told himself that he would cover any and all moves no matter what.
“When I arrived here I told myself, I was not going to give up,” he said. “I just stayed with the group, it helped me and it ended really well.”
Finally, the key move of the race occurred. Chelangat pushed the pace at 39.5 kilometers in a bid for victory, and Simbu was one of the final six with a chance for a medal: Aouani, Chelangat, Petros, Simbu, Haimro Alame of Israel, and Yohanes Chiappinelli of Italy. Chelangat was done in by his own move (he would finish fifth), and Alame and Chiappinelli would also fall back (they finished fourth and sixth, respectively). That left Petros, Simbu and Aouani to fight for the medals, and they emerged from the tunnel under the stadium and onto the track in that order.
“When we entered the stadium, I was not sure if I would win,” Simbu recounted.
Aouani’s legs were fried, and as much as he wanted to win he just couldn’t muster a robust final sprint. He had to settle for bronze in 2:09:53. He became the first Italian man to medal in the marathon at a World Championships since Stefano Baldini in Paris in 2003.
“At the end the other guys changed the pace and I tried to stay behind them,” Aouani told Race Results Weekly. “But they were just better than me. Like, honestly, today I couldn’t get more than this (third place). I’m very proud, but the other guys were just better than me.”
Petros was sprinting furiously on the backstretch and Simbu tried to catch up. The German got a gap, and coming around the final bend appeared to have secured the victory. But Simbu rallied in the final 50 meters and started to close the gap. Petros gave it everything he had, even diving through the line, but Simbu’s torso clearly broke the plane of the finish line first, albeit by just a few centimeters.
“It was like a drama,” Petros told a group of reporters in English. “I was sure that I win. He was like five meters-something behind me when I saw that on the screen. He kicked like the last 5-K (meaning the last five meters). He surprised me like crazy. I’m a professional athlete so I have to accept it.”
Looking ahead, Simbu might turn-up at the TCS New York City Marathon in November. He competed in New York once before, but failed to finish in 2018.
“I got an invitation for the New York City Marathon,” Simbu said. “So now I will talk to my agents and see if it is possible to go because this was a tough race.”
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A total of 66 men finished today’s race (out of 88 starters), including the USA’s Clayton Young who was the top American in ninth place (2:10:43). The 2024 Paris Olympian was in the hunt for the podium through 39-K, but when the pace picked up at the end his legs would not respond.
“I left it all out there,” Young told reporters. He added: “I just didn’t have any pop the with the last 2-K, 3-K to go.”
PHOTO: Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania winning the 2025 world marathon in Tokyo title over Amanal Petros of Germany (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Alphonce Simbu with the Tanzanian flag after winning the 2025 world marathon title in Tokyo (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: The top-three finishers from the 2025 World Athletics Championships marathon (left to right): Amanal Petros of Germany (silver), Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania (gold) and Ilias Aouani of Italy (bronze) (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
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