2025 World Athletics Championships – Men's marathon
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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]
| 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 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
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
Results
The race was started on 15 September at 7:30.
