Kenya find a marathon man

African wins against the odds after running the distance only three times previously.

Kamau Wanjiru runs to the gold in the men's marathon, becoming the first Kenyan to win the event in an Olympics.

BEIJING // Samuel Wanjiru had already made a name for himself in the heady world of Kenyan distance running before yesterday. Now he has made history. He pulled away over the final few kilometres to become the first Kenyan to win an Olympic marathon the first Kenyon to do so.

Wanjiru negotiated the 26.2 mile course through the Beijing streets in bright morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hrs 6mins 32secs. "In Kenya we have many medals, I'm glad I have this one," he said. Kenyans had twice won silver in the men's marathon, most recently in 2000, but never a gold. At these Games, Kenya won 14 track and field medals, behind only the US on 23 and Russia with 18. Five of them were gold. It was only Wanjiru's third marathon.

He first set the world half-marathon record three years ago, when he was 18, and broke it twice again last year. The two-time world champion, Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, won the silver with the Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede, winner of this year's Paris Marathon, was third. The Ethiopian Deriba Merga led for much of the race but faded badly at the end to finish outside the medals. The crowd roared as Wanjiru entered the Bird's Nest, and he responded by raising his left hand, then clapped several times.

The final lap in the last event of track and field was run around an infield painted blue for last night's closing ceremony. Just across the line, Wanjiru kneeled and crossed himself several times. He had just broken the Olympic mark of 2-09.21 set by Carlos Lopes of Portugal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games. As Wanjiru was still on one knee, Gharib crossed the line for the silver medal. "I had to push the pace to tire the other runners," Wanjiru said.

"I had to push the pace because my body gets tired when I slow down." Wanjiru won the Fukuoka International Marathon in Japan last December and was runner-up at the London Marathon in April. His name was listed on the official results sheet as Wanjiru, but the Kenyan said that spelling was incorrect - he is officially known by the IAAF as Wanjiru. The defending Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy, in his final marathon, finished 12th, then praised those who finished at the front.

"In the last 10 kilometres it was unbelievable what the Africans were able to do under these conditions," he said. The temperature was 24°C with 52 per cent humidity when the race began at 7.30 am and it heated up steadily throughout. The lead pack began to separate through the first 5km. By the halfway mark, eight were grouped at the front, led by Eritrean Yonas Kifle. The pack dwindled to three - Wanjiru, Merga and Gharib.

The world champion Luke Kibet, of Kenya, stayed with the leaders through the early stages but fell back and finally pulled out of the race shortly past the halfway mark. He later said he had a stomach problem The world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie, of Ethiopia, decided not to run the race because of concerns about Beijing's notorious air pollution. But after an overnight thunderstorm, a glorious blue sky greeted the final day of these games.

The race began at the edge of Tiananmen Square, then wound around the Temple of Heaven before turning northward toward the Olympic Green and the Bird's Nest, where colourful dancers, drummers and cyclists entertained the crowd as they awaited the runners. * AP