Gold medalist Gezahgne Abera of Ethiopia
Gary Hershorn / Reuters

1 October 2000

Ethiopian Gezahgne Abera won the men's Olympic marathon on Sunday as African runners swept the medals.

Abera was given an unofficial time of two hours 10 minutes 11 seconds, beating Eric Wainaina of Kenya and Tesfaye Tola, also of Ethiopia.

The trio escaped with just over seven kilometres remaining of the tough, hilly 42.195 km course from North Sydney to the Olympic stadium.

Unfancied Tiyapo Maso of Botswana set the early pace, breaking away after a couple of kilometres to reach halfway in the lead but the pack, 90 seconds adrift at one stage, caught him after one hour and 17 minutes.

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