Antonio Pinto outsprinted Stefano Baldini to win by two seconds and Joyce Chepchumba caught defending champion Liz McColgan at the line to triumph by one second as the London Marathon produced two thrilling finishes Sunday.
Although the men didn't beat Belayneh Dinsamo's world record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 50 seconds, set at Rotterdam in 1988, the first four finishers bettered the 12-year-old race record and the first five ran their fastest ever marathons.Pinto, the 1992 London Marathon champion, was timed in 2:07:55, with Baldini at 2:07:57.
Josiah Thugwane, the first black South African to win an Olympic gold medal when he triumphed at Atlanta last summer, placed third in his fastest ever time, 2:08:06, and fourth-place finisher Eric Kimaiyo of Kenya clocked 2:08:08. All four were under Steve Jones' previous London Marathon record of 2:08:16 set in 1985.
"This was the most extraordinary marathon race ever," Pinto said. "The race had a great group of runners and the warm weather helped to make it so good."
Thugwane, called a one-race wonder after his surprise win at Atlanta, was satisfied with his third-place finish.
"I thought during the race I had a chance of winning, but when Pinto came through, I knew I had run out of kilometers," the 5-foot-2 Thugwane said. "But I am very happy that I ran such a fast time."
In the closest finish ever to the women's race, Chepchumba caught defending champion McColgan in the final 20 yards to reverse the positions of last year. Chepchumba clocked 2:26:51, with McColgan only a second behind.
Each time the Kenya pulled even with McColgan in the final stretch, the Scot would kick ahead again. But Chepchumba made one final burst in the final 20 yards and it was enough to finally get ahead and take the title.
"We got together side by side, then she would push and I would try and stay with her," Chepchumba said. "Then she moved ahead and I tried to sprint to keep up.
"She moved ahead again and I tried one more time and this time I got ahead at the line. It's a great feeling to beat her this time."
By halfway in the men's race, the two Portuguese pacesetters, Carlos Patricio and Paulo Catarino, had the field on world record pace as they went through 13.1 miles in 1:02:49. In Dinsamo's world record run, the halfway time was 1:03:22.
When the pacemakers dropped out, Britons Paul Evans, winner of the Chicago Marathon in October, and first-time marathoner Paul Nerurkar led a pack of nine which included Thugwane, Pinto, Baldini and two-time runner-up Steve Moneghetti of Australia.
Baldini made a move at the three-quarter stage and Thugwane went with him, with Pinto initially unable to stay in touch.
But the Portuguese made a big move during the 24th mile and swept past the leading two as they ran past Big Ben.
Thugwane was unable to respond as Pinto and Baldini fought it out for the lead.
The two leaders entered the final stretch just past Buckingham Palace neck and neck and Pinto proved to have the faster finish.
Nerurkar wound up fifth, Moneghetti sixth and Evans eighth.
Jerry Lawson, the leading American in the race who finished second in the 1996 Chicago Marathon, dropped out halfway with stiffening calf muscles. He had been off the pace since the five-mile mark.
Lorna Kiplagat, winner of the Los Angeles Marathon last month after Russia's Nadezhda Ilyina was disqualified, set the pace in the women's race and took the field through 1:12:47 at halfway before dropping out.
Sonja Krolik of Germany then took over and opened a lead of 50 seconds by the 21st mile. But the former world champion triathlete slowed dramatically in the next mile and her lead was cut to 20 seconds by Lidia Simon of Romania and Chepchumba, with McColgan just behind.
All three overtook Krolik on mile 24 and Chepchumba led the trio into mile 25. McColgan overtook Simon for second and moved ahead of the Kenyan at Big Ben, and the two fought it out for the final half mile.
Some 29,000 runners, a record for the London Marathon, started the race in warm, sunny conditions.