In a truly heart-stopping moment at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships on September 15, 2025, Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu clinched a historic marathon gold. He outran Germany’s Amanal Petros in the sport’s first-ever major championship marathon decided by a photo finish, securing Tanzania’s inaugural world title.
The grueling 42.195 km race culminated in a dramatic sprint to the finish line, where Simbu surged past a diving Petros, with the official photo finish revealing a minuscule gap of just three-hundredths of a second. This incredibly tight margin was even closer than the 0.05-second difference that separated the gold and silver medalists in the men’s 100m final held just the day before. Both Simbu and Petros were clocked at an identical time of two hours, nine minutes, and 48 seconds, with Italy’s Iliass Aouani claiming bronze five seconds later at 2:09.53.
Reflecting on the exhilarating conclusion, a relieved 33-year-old Simbu commented, “When we entered the stadium, I was not sure if I would win. I did not know if I won. But when I saw the video screens and me on the top of the results, I felt relieved.”
This finish surpasses even the legendary 2001 Edmonton championships, where Ethiopia’s Gezahegne Abera famously edged out Kenya’s Simon Biwott by a single second. It was also a closer call than South African Josia Thugwane’s three-second victory over South Korea’s Lee Bong-ju in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics men’s marathon.
This marks Simbu’s first global title, building on his impressive career which includes a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2017 London World Championships and a second-place finish at the Boston marathon earlier in April. His triumph provided a significant boost for East African distance running, coming shortly after Frenchman Jimmy Gressier had broken a four-decade streak by becoming the first non-East African born man to win the 10,000 km title.
The early morning event itself began with a peculiar incident reminiscent of a sprint race rather than an endurance challenge: Kenya’s Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich committed a false start, necessitating a restart. Further surprises unfolded during the race as two of the fastest contenders, Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta—who had previously secured gold and silver at the Tokyo city marathon in March—unexpectedly dropped out with less than 10 km remaining.
For a significant portion of the race, the outcome remained uncertain, with a large pack of around two dozen runners maintaining a tight cluster for the first 90 minutes. However, as the early morning heat began to take its toll, the field gradually thinned, leaving Simbu, Petros, and Aouani to break away as they approached Tokyo’s National Stadium.
Eritrean-born Petros initially appeared poised to take home the gold for Europe, but Simbu summoned an incredible late burst of speed, running him down right at the tape. A visibly disheartened Petros later admitted, “Coming into the finish I was thinking about winning so a bit of me is feeling very sad. But I have to accept it. As an athlete you have to learn for tomorrow, train hard, keep going and be thankful for the silver.”