Posted: August 25, 2007

Athletics (RRW): Kibet Kicks Of World Championships With Marathon Gold For Kenya

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com OSAKA (25-Aug) -- As the field of the men's marathon slogged through the first 5 km in 16 minutes and 36 seconds (12 seconds slower than the women at last April's Flora London Marathon), the name Luke Kibet was not on anyone's lips as the man who would emerge as the next world champion. Indeed, the 24 year-old athlete who runs for the Kenyan Prisons team had relatively thin credentials: a victory at this year's Vienna Marathon in 2:10:07, and a 2:08:52 personal best set on a chilly day at Eindhoven in 2005 were his best accomplishments. But the hot and humid conditions --27.2°C/81°F with 72% humidity at the 7:00 a.m. start-- played to the Kenyan's advantage. Looking remarkably cool and composed, Kibet put in a surge in the 31st kilometer and ran away with the world title, Kenya's first in the men's marathon in 20 years. His winning time of 2:15:59 was the slowest ever in a world championships. "I'm very happy for this," said Kibet looking a bit overwhelmed at a chaotic post-race press conference. "Everybody wants to win." For his victory, Kibet owes some gratitude to his countryman, William Kiplagat, who finished eighth. The 35 year-old Kiplagat put in a big surge between 25 and 30 km which appeared to drop everyone from medal contention except the two Kenyans, Eritrea's Yared Asmerom and Qatar's Mubarak Hassan Shami, the pre-race favorite. Shami, the former Kenyan Richard Yatich who was undefeated in five marathons, was running hurt. He showed reporters after the race that he was experiencing some tightness in his right buttock and hamstring. "I was worried," said Shami about his injury. "As soon as I started the competition the leg was not moving." With Kibet out of reach, Kiplagat and Shami were locked in what appeared to be the battle for silver. Shami wanted to drop Kiplagat, but his leg was preventing him from accelerating. So he just decided to hold his pace. "At 32 kilometers I saw there is a possibilty of a silver medal," said Shami. "So, I maintained." The tiring Kiplagat began to fade. By 40-K he was still in third, but he was being stalked by Japan's Tsuyoshi Ogata and Switzerland's Viktor Röthlin who were mounting a late-race charge. Röthlin, the Swiss record holder, overcame a bad patch and was sensing he could move up to a podium position. "I say if you can't dream it, you can't do it," he said later. While Kibet was already posing for photographers and waving the Kenyan flag, Röthlin had pulled away from Ogata and was now bearing down on Shami. The Qatari hit the track about 20 meters ahead of the fast-closing Swiss, and was able to maintain the gap to the finish. Fighting through the pain, he crossed the line in 2:17:18 to take the first-ever marathon medal for Qatar at a world championships. Röthlin held his speed to the line, taking the bronze in 2:17:25. Falling to his knees, he bent over and kissed the track before removing his shoes and tossing them up in the air in celebration. Coming into the race he was uncertain of his fitness. "In the last race, the half-marathon in New York, it only went so-so," Röthlin said refering to his 11th place finish at the NYC Half-Marathon presented by NIKE on Aug. 5, the race he chose as his final tune-up for these championships. Although the Japanese did not win an individual medal, they nonetheless won the World Cup team title in 6:54:23, well ahead of second place Korea (7:12:08). The Kenyans got third. Top Results: 1. Luke Kibet, 1983, KEN, 2:15:59 2. Mubarak Hassan Shami, 1980, QAT, 2:17:18 3. Viktor Röthlin, 1974, SUI, 2:17:25 4. Yared Asmerom, 1980, ERI, 2:17:41 5. Tsuyoshi Ogata, 1973, JPN, 2:17:42 6. Satoshi Osaki, 1973, JPN, 2:18:06 7. Toshinari Suwa, 1977, JPN, 2:18:35 8. William Kiplagat, 1972, KEN, 2:19:21 9. Janne Holmen, 1977, FIN, 2:19:36 10. José Manuel Martínez, 1971, ESP, 2:20:25 Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest