Tergat smashes world marathon mark
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Tergat smashed the world record by 43 seconds
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BERLIN, Germany -- Kenyan Paul Tergat smashed the world record by 43 seconds as he won the Berlin Marathon in two hours four minutes and 55 seconds.
Tergat, 34, surpassed the 2:05:38 set by American Khalid Khannouchi in London on April 14, 2002.
Tergat, twice Olympic silver medallist in the 10,000 meters and second in three of his previous five marathons, finally shook off his nearly-man reputation with the superb run in front of a million spectators.
"At last," he said after crossing the finish line one second ahead of Sammy Korir of Kenya, one of the pacemakers who all but caught Tergat with a late spurt.
Tergat ran the first half in a planned 63.01 and then stepped up the pace in the second half at around 2:55 minutes per kilometer.
"It was a great run," he said. "I have been training to have this result for a long time. I'm very happy to be able to get it."
Tergat, who was 10 seconds behind Khannouchi at the 2002 London Marathon, came to Berlin intent on breaking the American's record.
The Kenyan's first win in six marathon starts gave him the third world record of his career, adding to the 10,000 meters track mark of 26.27.85, since broken by Haile Gebrselassie, and his current 59.17 half-marathon record.
It was the fifth time a best mark had been set on the fast, flat Berlin circuit and the fourth time in the last five years.
Four in a row
Yasuko Hashimoto made it four in a row for Japanese runners in the women's race triumphing in two hours, 26 minutes and 32 seconds.
Hashimoto, who went past Alina Ivanova of Russia to lead at 35 kilometers, crossed the line almost two minutes ahead of her nearest rivals, second-placed Kenya's Emily Kimuria (2:28:18) and Ornella Ferrara of Italy in third, another 10 seconds behind.
Running her third marathon, Hashimoto improved her best from 2.29.37, set in Nagoya earlier this year.
