2025 World Athletics Championships – Men's marathon
| Men's marathon at the 2025 World Championships | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | National Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 15 September | |||||||||
| Competitors | 90 from 47 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 2:09:48 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The men's marathon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Stadium in Tokyo on 15 September 2025.[1] This edition had the smallest margin of victory in World Championships marathon history, at only 0.03 seconds.[2]
Summary
Ethiopians Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta, who had placed first and second, respectively, at the Tokyo Marathon in March, were among 22 athletes who dropped out of the race after hot temperatures made conditions difficult. Takele's time of 2:03:23 had placed him as the fastest entrant at the start.
With less than three kilometers remaining, Uganda's Abel Chelangat led four other athletes in a break from the rest of the field; however, Chelangat and Israel's Haimro Alame were dropped just before the stadium. Trailed closely by Alphonce Felix Simbu and Illiass Aouani, Amanal Petros held the lead as the podium trio ran through the tunnel and onto the track. Petros surged down the back stretch and appeared to drop his competitors, but just 30 meters from the finish line, Simbu launched a kick to reach the German. After a review of the photo-finish, Simbu was given the win over Petros by just 0.03 seconds, the smallest margin in World Championship history. Both were timed at 2:09:48, and Aouani took bronze in 2:09:53.[3] Simbu's win gave Tanzania its first-ever global gold medal in athletics.[4]
Records
Before the competition records were as follows:[5]
| Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World record | Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) | 2:00:35 | Chicago, United States | 8 October 2023 |
| Championship record | Tamirat Tola (ETH) | 2:05:36 | Eugene, United States | 17 July 2022 |
| World Leading | Sabastian Sawe (KEN) | 2:02:27 | London, United Kingdom | 27 April 2025 |
| African Record | Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) | 2:00:35 | Chicago, United States | 8 October 2023 |
| Asian Record | El Hassan El Abbassi (BHR) | 2:04:43 | Valencia, Spain | 2 December 2018 |
| European Record | Bashir Abdi (BEL) | 2:03:36 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 24 October 2021 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Cameron Levins (CAN) | 2:05:36 | Tokyo, Japan | 5 March 2023 |
| Oceanian record | Andrew Buchanan (AUS) | 2:06:22 | Valencia, Spain | 1 December 2024 |
| South American Record | Daniel Ferreira do Nascimento (BRA) | 2:04:51 | Seoul, South Korea | 17 April 2022 |
Qualification Standard
The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 2:06:30.[6]
Schedule
The event schedule, in local time (UTC+9), was as follows:[1]
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| 15 September | 07:30 | Final |
Results
The race was started on 15 September at 7:30.
References
- ^ a b "Timetable - Tokyo 25 - World Athletics Championship - Men Marathon". World Athletics. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
- ^ Pierce, Zack. "Incredible men's marathon ending goes to a photo finish to decide world champion". The Athletic. The New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ "First-ever Tanzanian gold as Simbu dips past Petros in world marathon". France 24. 2025-09-15. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ "Simbu takes Tanzania's first global title with marathon victory in Tokyo | News | Tokyo 25 | World Athletics Championships". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ "Marathon − Records". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 12 August 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
- ^ "World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 – Qualification System and Entry Standards" (PDF). World Athletics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2025. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
- ^ "Results Marathon Men - Final" (PDF). World Athletics. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.