Teenager Ghirmay Ghebreslassie wins Beijing marathon

Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea celebrates after the men’s marathon at the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships 2015 in Beijing, capital of China, on August. 22, 2015.

Eritrea’s Ghebreslassie became the youngest victor of the endurance event at a world championships meet, stopping the clock at two hours, 12 minutes and 28 seconds.

Eritrea’s only previous world championship medal was a silver for Zersenay Tadesse in the 10,000m in 2009.

“Although I do not have much experience, I will work to make another special history in Rio”, Ghebreslassie said of his plans for next summer’s Olympic Games.

There were 17 runners within eight seconds of Meucci through 25 kilometers, including teammate Ruggero Pertile and defending world champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda.

The Italian duo struck out on their own, but were sucked in on the 25km mark, Lesotho’s Mathibelle sprinting away after 90 minutes of running and building up a 25-sec lead. Munyo Solomon Mutai of Uganda was third.

The 19-year-old Eritrean grabbed his country’s flag as he entered the Bird’s Nest and waved it to the cheering crowd.

The Ugandan eventually finished sixth (2:14.42), with Kenya’s Kimetto, the world record holder after setting 2:02:57 in Berlin previous year, pulling up after 1:38. This is a runner who wound up last at the 2012 London Olympics among those who finished.