Athletics: Gebrselassie Claims Fukuoka Marathon

Haile Gebrselassie won his second major marathon in three months yesterday when he claimed victory in the Fukuoka event in Japan. But there was disappointment for Britain's Jon Brown, who finished seventh and failed to break his personal best following a foot injury.

Gebrselassie twice an Olympic 10,000m gold medallist, bided his time before pulling away in the closing stages to leave Morocco's Jaouad Gharib and Dmytro Baranovskiy, the defending Fukuoka champion from Ukraine, and win in 2hr 6min 52sec, one second outside the course record.

The Ethiopian had won the Berlin Marathon in 2:05:56, just 61 seconds shy of Paul Tergat's world best.