Tergat breaks world record

Published : Oct 18, 2003 00:00 IST

A dominating cross-country runner who seemed destined to the frustration of second place in important races on the track and on the road, Paul Tergat became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon with a stunning performance in Berlin.

JERE LONGMANNew York Times News Service

A dominating cross-country runner who seemed destined to the frustration of second place in important races on the track and on the road, Paul Tergat became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon with a stunning performance in Berlin. Even with some confusion near the finish line, Tergat ran 26.2 miles in 2 hours 4 minutes 55 seconds, shattering by 43 seconds the previous record held by the Moroccan-born American Khalid Khannouchi, who lives in Ossining, New York

In perfect, windless conditions on a flat course, Kenyans swept the top three places at the Berlin Marathon. Sammy Korir, who started the race as a pacemaker, held his rapid stride and finished only one second behind Tergat in 2:04:56. Titus Munji was third in 2:06:15. This was Tergat's sixth marathon and his first victory. Twice, he had finished behind Khannouchi, the second time at the 2002 London Marathon, where Khannouchi set the record of 2:05:38. In that race, Tergat ran his previous best of 2:05:48.

Tergat had won five world cross-country championships, but he had also come to be known for heartbreaking defeat. Twice, he finished second in Olympic 10,000-meter races to Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia; at the 2000 Sydney Games, Tergat lost by nine-hundredths of a second.

Even his friends began to doubt him, believing that, at 5 feet 11 1/2 inches, he was not sufficiently compact to be a world-record marathoner.

"I knew deep in my head one day I will get the world record,'' the 34-year-old Tergat told reporters in Berlin. "I told all my friends my time would come, despite some of them saying I was too tall.'' He might be able to drop the marathon mark even lower, perhaps to 2:04:30, but not into the 2:03s, Tergat said. If he competes next August on a hilly course on a hot day at the Summer Games in Athens, Greece, Tergat will be a favourite to accomplish something no Kenyan ever has in the marathon — winning an Olympic gold medal.

"The marathon is a matter of experience,'' Tergat said. "After five attempts, today was a completely different perspective.'' The Kenyans Tegla Loroupe and Catherine Ndereba have held the world record in the women's marathon, but despite the East African nation's magnificent runners, no man had set the record. On that Sunday, however, the weather was accommodating — about 50 degrees and cloudy at the start — and Tergat and his pacemakers decided to challenge Khannouchi's mark.

They reached halfway in 1:03:01, a comfortable time for Tergat, who holds the world half-marathon record of 59:06. At about 21 1/2 miles, Korir tried to drop Tergat but was unsuccessful. With six-tenths of a mile remaining, Tergat moved in front by 20-30 yards, but he grew confused and slowed near the finish as pace cars swerved left to pass through the wide central arch of the Brandenburg Gate. Korir nearly caught up, but Tergat hung on for the victory, which brought him $126,000 in prize money.

"At last!'' Tergat said. "Some people said, `You cannot win a race,' but I knew my day would come. I knew nothing was going to stop me.''

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