Ethiopia's legendary runner Kenenisa Bekele notched up another impressive milestone in an already glittering career by winning the Paris Marathon on Sunday in his first attempt at the gruelling event.
The 31-year-old 5000m and 10,000m world-record holder crossed the line in an event-record time of 2hr 5min 02secs after negotiating a sunbathed course of 42.195km through the streets of the French capital.
The previous Paris record was held by Kenya's Stanley Wiwott who clocked 2.05:10 in 2012.
Fellow Ethiopian Limenih Getachew came home second at 2hr 06.49secs with Luka Kanda of Kenya, the 2012 Rome winner, claiming the final spot on the podium crossing the line in 2.08:02.
"It was my first marathon and I didn't have much experience," said Bekele, the 31-year-old triple Olympic champion.
"It was very tough but it was the time I expected. After 25km I pushed alone but it was very tough."
Bekele emulated his great compatriot Haile Gebreselassie who also made a successful step from the track to marathon and has the third fastest time in history.
He missed out on the world record which is held by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang who set a mark of 2.03:23 in 2013 at Berlin.
In the women's race, Kenya's Flomena Cheyech dominated proceedings, winning in a time of 2.22:41 as she turned in a confident showing and a winning margin of 3min 37secs over Ethiopia's Yebrgual Melese.
A second Ethiopian, Ahmed Zemzem was a further 3min 14secs back in third place.
