Alphonce Felix Simbu made history by becoming the first Tanzanian to win a gold medal in a world event at the World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo.
Released on September 15th, 2025
Alphonce Felix Simbu took gold in his first photo finish in a major championship marathon, trimming German Amanar Petros with a dramatic race and giving Tanzania the Maiden World title.
The finishing touches on the photo showed the 42.195km race was decided in 300th of a second, with Simbu passing the diving Petros on the line, closer to the 0.05-second gap between gold and silver medalists in Monday’s men’s 100m final.
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Simbu and Petros were given the same amount of time, 2 hours, 9 minutes and 48 seconds (2:09:48). Italian Iris Ouani took the bronze at 2:09:53.
“When we entered the stadium, we didn’t know if I would win,” said Simbu, 33. “I didn’t know if I won or not, but when I saw the video screen and I was at the top of the results, I was relieved.
“Today I made history. It was the first Tanzanian gold medal at the World Championships.”
The smallest victory margin in the global marathon race
The finish was closer to the 2001 championship at Edmonton, when Ethiopian Gezahegne Abela took Kenya Simon Biwott in one second.
South Africa’s Josiah Zagwane won the closest Olympic men’s marathon at the 1996 Atlanta tournament, three seconds after South Korea’s Lee Bonju.
It was Simbu’s first global title for him, winning bronze at the marathon at the 2017 London World Championships and finishing second in the Boston Marathon in April.
Simbu returned to East Africa’s distance running the morning after Frenchman Jimmy Gresier became the first man to win the 10,000m title for over 40 years.
The early morning event began with another incident that reminded me of a sprint rather than an endurance race when Kenya’s Vincent Kipkemoy Ngech jumped over a gun and forced a reboot.
The shock continued as Ethiopian Tadesetakere and Deresa Jereta, who took gold and silver at the Tokyo City Marathon in March, were two of the fastest runners on the field.
The race was open wide for most of the distance, with dozens of runners open in about 90 minutes in the main cluster.
The pack then faded in the morning heat, which gradually faded, avoiding the field where Simbu, Petros and Ouani entered the stadium.
Eritrea-born Petros appeared to be trying to regain the title to Europe until Simbu found a slow kick and drove him on the line.
“It’s like 100 metres,” Petros said. “After getting into the finish, I was thinking about winning, so I feel a bit sad about my own.
“But I have to accept that. As an athlete, you have to learn tomorrow, train hard, continue and thank Silver.”
