By Chang-Ran Kim

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu snatched marathon gold at the World Athletics Championships by the smallest of margins on Monday, edging out German Amanal Petros in a dramatic race to the line.

Hitting the tape in two hours, nine minutes and 48 seconds, Simbu struck back for East African distance running the morning after Frenchman Jimmy Gressier became the first man born outside the region to win the 10,000km title for more than 40 years.

Petros was given the same time to earn silver while Italian Iliass Aouani took the bronze in 2:09.53.

It was the tightest ever finish in a marathon at the world championship, closer than the 2001 race in Edmonton when Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera edged Kenyan Simon Biwott by a single second.

German Petros had led arou

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