Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia shook off his lone challenger just before entering Central Park yesterday to set a record in winning the New York City marathon.
Tesfaye, Ethiopia's first winner in this race, ran the 26.2 miles in 2:07:43. The old NYC marathon record of 2:08:01, set by Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania, had stood since 1989.
Tesfaye built a lead of more than 20 seconds over Kenya's Japhet Kosgei, runner-up for the second year in succession. Kosgei clocked 2:09:19. Another Kenyan, Rodgers Rop, finished third, a further 33 seconds back.
The African domination of this event, dedicated to the victims of the September 11 atrocities in New York, was such that success once again eluded the American contingent. A US runner has not won in New York since Alberto Salazar in 1982.
Tesfaye, whose first competitive race came only three years ago, was making his debut in New York. The event has earned him prize money and bonuses of $150,000 (£107,000).
He showed impressive closing speed, making his break from Kosgei three miles from the finish line along Fifth Avenue.
Tesfaye, a fitting symbol for this year's event, has had to battle against the odds to become a world-class athlete. As a teenager he lost the sight in his right eye when he was horned by a cow. His brother, Habte, a top 10,000m runner, persuaded Tesfaye to try the sport in order to help him over the trauma.
The win sets up a potentially fascinating clash in the London marathon next April. Haile Gebrselassie is due to make his competitive marathon debut there but could face serious opposition from Tesfaye if he decides to come back to try and improve on his fifth place of earlier this year.
The two trained together and had a close race for the gold medal at Bristol's world half-marathon championships last month with Gabrselassie coming out narrowly on top.
Kosgei, who finished second in 2:09:43, is another inspiring character.
The Kenyan only took up running in his late twenties after a doctor warned him he would have heart problems in later life unless he lost weight.
There was an encouraging performance from Britain's Jon Brown, who finished sixth in the 30,000-strong field with a time of 2:11:24. It was his best performance since finishing fourth in last year's Olympics, since when he has been injured.
A new record was also set in the women's event where Kenya's Margaret Okayo won in 2:24:21, beating Lisa Ondieki's 1992 record by an impressive 19 seconds.
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