Kenyan Moses Kibet has claimed a historic victory in the Sydney marathon as the top three finishers bettered the previous fastest marathon record time on Australian soil.
Kibet recorded a time of two hours, seven minutes, and three seconds on Sunday and crossed the line just two seconds ahead of countryman Cosmas Matolo.
The previous record was 2:07:08 by Ethiopian Chalu Deso Gelmisa – the victor in the Paris marathon earlier this year, but now he is in the third position.
These three Africans also break the Australian all-comers record of 2:07:50 set by Japanese Yuta Shitara on the Gold Coast in 2019.
In the women’s marathon, Ethiopian Tigist Girma Getachew won by recording a time of 2:25:10 ahead of compatriot Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu Gebrehiwet and Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea.
Japanese Jun Hiromichi won the men’s wheelchair marathon in a record time of 1:52.47, and the second position took by Australian Richard Colman in 1:53:28.
Australian Sinead Diver – who was fifth in last month’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games marathon and a creditable 10th in the marathon at last year’s Tokyo Olympics – finally claimed victory in the women’s half-marathon at the Sydney Running Festival in a record time of 1:13:07.
The Sydney marathon is on the road to joining the prestigious World Marathon Majors. It was Sydney’s first year of a three-year candidacy.
