Tanzania's golden boy Alphonse Simbu eyes one more World Marathon Major this season
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 24.09.25. | 13:04
The 2:04:38 runner will have 48 days of rest between his championship-winning run and the marathon
Days after making history for his East African nation at the World Athletics Championships, Tanzania's Alphonse Simbu is now hinting at running a World Marathon Major (WMM) before the season concludes.
Simbu, was on Monday, 15 September, crowned champion in the men's marathon, beating Amanol Petros in a sprint finish.
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Not only did he become the first athlete from Tanzania to win a global title, but he also achieved the smallest winning margin ever in a global championships marathon, having outsprinted Germany's Petros in the closing stages to finish just 0.03 seconds ahead.
“I had planned to take part in the New York Marathon, but a final decision will be made after discussions with my coach and agent.
However, it was my initial plan to compete in the race,” he told Tanzanian media ahead of his return to a grand reception in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Simbu, who won bronze at the 2017 World Championships in London, improved to gold to become his country's most established athlete globally.
His medal is an improvement for Tanzania, who, before now, boasted Christopher Isengwe's silver from the 1985 edition, also in the marathon, as their best ever outing in the competition.
The two remain the only Tanzanian athletes to have ever stood on the World Championships podium.
Should the 33-year-old elect to be on the start line of this year's New York City Marathon set for Sunday, 2 November, he will have rested for 48 days since his last race at the Championship.
It would also be his third marathon of the year, having opened the season with a second-place 2:05:04 finish at the Boston Marathon in April, finishing behind Kenya's John Korir (2:04:45).
This is an ambitious feat for the 2:04:38 runner, a personal best achieved in Valencia last year, as he has not raced two World Marathon Majors (WMM) in the same year before.
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