Stephen Mokoka became only the third South African to break the two-hour, seven-minute barrier in the marathon as he finished fifth in Osaka on Sunday in 2 hr 6 min 42 sec.
He missed Gert Thys’ 2:06:33 South African record set in Tokyo in 1999 by just nine seconds.
Tis Guy 👀🤭@MokokaSteve runs SA #2 all time marathon with a 2.06.41 in Osaka
— Sponge Group (@MichaelSeme08) February 26, 2023
5th in the field and first in our hearts. The 👑 of the roads continues on 👀👀👀👀👀
📷📷 @mainichi_photography#SpongeGroup pic.twitter.com/hDiMgAQRWN
Hailemaryam Kiros of Ethiopia won the Osaka Marathon in 2:06:01, two seconds ahead of Victor Kiplagat of Uganda.
The 38-year-old Mokoka, fifth in this event at the 2019 world championships in Doha, improved his best time by nearly a minute.
The 2:07:40 he ran in Shanghai in November 2015 had ranked him fifth on the South African list behind Thys, Hendrick Ramaala (2:06:55), Ian Syster (2:07:06) and Josia Thugwane (2:07:28).
Now he’s second on the all-time list.
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