Italy’s Iliass Aouani was the surprise winner of the men’s marathon in a thrilling finish at the European Running Championships in Leuven on Sunday (13).
Aouani found himself outnumbered by Israel trio Maru Teferi, Haimro Alame and Gashau Ayale in the final stages of a hard fought race. With just 2km to go, it was clear the medals were going to be decided between the quartet who were comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.
Teferi, silver medallist at the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships and Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships, had the strongest credentials of the lead bunch. But astonishingly, he was the first to crack leaving Ayale, Alame and Aouani to contend for gold.
In the final kilometre, Alame was the next to falter reducing it to a straight head-to-head battle between Aouani and Ayale. The Israeli, bronze medallist in Munich 2022, looked to have stolen the initiative in the closing 200 metres.
But Aouani refused to yield and gradually edged ahead, sprinting home to take gold in 2:09:05. Ayale took silver just three seconds adrift. Alame faded badly in the closing stretch and Teferi rallied to take another major medal in 2:09:17, ten seconds ahead of his teammate.
Redemption for Olympic heartbreak
For gold medallist Aouani, it was an improvement of 18 places on his result at the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships, which was only his second race at the distance.
“I was not very confident because my opponents were very good,” said the champion afterwards. “But in this kind of race, PBs are not so important. It was tough, but these races are not won by the strongest, but by the wisest.
“However, I was the best in the race. Behind that scream at the finish line were many years of hard times. Last year I didn't make it to the Olympics. It was a really frustrating year. I saw a lot of doors close, faced a lot of disappointments, there were a lot of doubts, dark times and moments of depression.
“But I'm really happy with the way everything turned out. I am really proud of myself. I needed this victory. I knew I was the champion, but the world didn't know it. Now they do.”
Malede pays for premature burst
It was a cagey opening to the race with a pack of thirteen runners crossing through 10km at 31:02 led by Britain’s George James.
By halfway, the lead pack had been whittled down to nine which also included former European cross country champion and the fastest man in the field, Kaan Kigen Özbilen and his Turkish teammate and namesake Ilham Tanui Özbilen, himself a world and European indoor 1500m silver medallist.
At that stage, Bukayawe Malede looked like the leading Israeli contender, running confidently in the lead. He broke clear in the next 5km, but it was a wildly premature move and by the 35km mark he had slowed dramatically, lagging off the pace by one minute.
Teferi had also navigated a bad patch, dropping off the lead bunch just after halfway, but he regathered himself to re-join the leaders at 30km.
Aouani remained measured throughout, running tightly with the leading Israelis, always keeping something in reserve for the all important finish. James was fifth in a personal best of 2:10:10 with Ilham Tanui Özbilen sixth in 2:10:26. Kaan Kigen Özbilen faded to 11th in 2:13:50, whilst Malede braved it out to place 17th in 2:16:14.
Team title for Israel
Ayale, Teferi and Alame could also celebrate the team title with a combined time of 6:27:52, regaining the overall title they won in Munich in 2022.
The hosts also had another medal to cherish, with Belgium winning team silver courtesy of Dorian Boulvin (9th, 2:11:43), Thomas de Bock (10th, 2:12:03) and Yohan Zaradzki (14th, 2:14:53) with an aggregate time of 6:38:39.
Bronze went to Türkiye with 6:39:17 with Hüseyin Can playing a supporting role to the two Özbilens, placing 15th in 2:15:01.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics