Kenya's Kirui retains world title in men's marathon

Kenyan runner Abel Kirui retained his world title in the men's marathon here on Sunday after finishing the 42.195-kilometer race in two hours, seven minutes and 38 seconds. The 29-year-olds now owned the two fastest time in the Worlds history as he set a championships record of 2:06:54 in his debut in Berlin two years ago. "It is very special moment for me to win the second world title. It is a good sign before the Olympic Games," Kirui told a press conference. His fellow Kenyan Vincent Kipruto, a newcomer to the world championships, crossed the line second 2:28 minutes behind, which is the biggest margin in the Worlds history. Ethiopia's debutant Feyisa Lilesa, losing the silver medal battle in the final 1km, broke another medal sweep from the Kenyans by taking the bronze medal in 2:10:32. The first final in Daegu on last Saturday had saw the Kenyan women making the first ever marathon medal sweep in the championships history. Kirui pulled away early from a leading pack of three Kenyans and one Ethiopian after half way mark and ran all the way alone to finish home with his seasonal best time. "Comparing to Berlin, it was very similar race but it was getting very hot in the end," he said. "I am happy we managed to win the long distance races in Korea. Kenyans were runing well and that gives me a lot of motivation for the next races." Kipruto, the world's third fastest man this year, who clocked 2:05:33 when finishing runner up at the Rotterdam Marathon in April, said he was happy to secure a 1-2 finish for Kenya. "I was ready for the final kick, I tried to increase the pace progressively and I left Lilesa behind me," said the 23-year-olds. "Our country should be proud of our success." "I think I can run even better than this and I hope to do something good in the Olympics 2012," he added. Lilesa, 21, noted that the weather condition was very difficult for him. "It was very difficult for me even from the start because of the weather conditions," said Lilesa, adding that the only difference between Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes was that "where we train there is much colder than where the Kenyans train". "I tried to get a good position from the beginning," he said when referring to the silver medal battle. "Once the Kenyan took the lead, I was fighting for the second place. I was able to keep it for a long time but in the end I lost it. Just until kilometer 41, I thought I was second, but just after that I could not maintain the position, and so I am bronze." With the two medals, Kenya has temporarily moved to the second place in the tally with 16 medals in total while their previous best in a world championships was 13 medals in Osaka 2007.