Olympic and world champion Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia produced an explosive sprint down the final stretch to edge Japan's Tsuyoshi Ogata and win the Fukuoka International Marathon on Sunday.
Defending champion Abera, who ran neck and neck with Ogata over the final 9 km, pulled away on the final corner 150 meters from the finish line before coming home in a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 13 seconds at Heiwadai Athletics Stadium.
Japan-based Kenyan Eric Wainaina, who finished behind Abera in Sydney to add a silver to the bronze he won in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, followed in third in 2:10:08.