Lakata wins marathon world title

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Alban Lakata (Austria) won the 107km elite men's marathon World Championships ahead of Mirko Celestino (Italy) and Burry Stander (South Africa).

"I am without words. This was my dream. I really don't know what to say," said Lakata after his victory.

The men started fast, with the first 52km ridden at an average speed of 30.4km/h.

"In the first two thirds of the race, my legs didn't feel good, and I was struggling to stay on the back of the lead group," said Lakata. "I was one whole minute down, and had almost given up hope of a good result."

"Today was brutal. It was one attack after another, as it if was a cross country race," said Jose Antonio Hermida (Spain), who finished sixth, after the race. "It was a group of around 20 in the first part of the competition, but it was clear that not all were going to hang at that pace."

With about 10km to go, Lakata attacked and opened a small gap, which he held on to until the end. The race behind him was for second, with a group sprinting each other for the remaining medals. The top six men in the race all finished within nine seconds of Lakata.

"The correct place for an attack was something I had carefully noted in training," said Lakata. "I took the opportunity, and put a gap into second place. I couldn't believe it, but simply pulled out all the stops - gave it literally everything that I have and to cross that line first - it was an amazing feeling!"

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