Chentouf sets visually impaired marathon world record at WPA Marathon Championships

Defending champion and Paralympic champion El Amin Chentouf of Morocco set a new world record in the T12 visually-impaired division at the WPA Marathon World Championships, also the site of the Virgin Money London Marathon today. Chentouf clocked 2:21:23, a 10-second personal best, at the race where more than 80 para athletes from 25 countries competed for gold in five medal events: men’s and women’s T12 visually impaired, men’s T46 ambulant athletes and men’s and women’s T54 wheelchairs.

Have medal will travel ? #LondonMarathon #ParaAthletics pic.twitter.com/4olcS9Ncp0

— #ParaAthletics (@ParaAthletics) April 28, 2019

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Chentouf and Australian single-arm amputee Michael Roeger, who clocked a sixth-place finish at the Melbourne Marathon in 2018, ran much of the course together. Roeger took gold in his division, finishing in 2:22:51. Alberto Suarez Laso of Spain took second in the visually impaired division, in 2:25:50, and Tadashi Horikoshi was third in 2:25:56.

Congrats world champion El Amin Chentouf with a new T12 world record 2:21:23 ?????#ParaAthletics #LondonMarathon pic.twitter.com/WrY7Dl09bo

— #ParaAthletics (@ParaAthletics) April 28, 2019

Scottish runner Derek Rae was second in the athletes-with-impairments division behind Roeger, in 2:27:08, with Abdelhadi El Harti of Morocco third, in 2:30:44.

Wheelchair athletes Daniel Romanchuk of the US, who is 20, won his division (which is also part of the Abbott World Major Marathon series) in 1:33:37, two weeks after his victory at the Boston Marathon. Romanchuk was third at London last year, and won Chicago and New York last year. Marcel Hug of Switzerland (1:33:42), who was won the World Majors series twice, finished second, and Tomoki Suzuki (1:33:51) was third in the T53/T54 division.

?? @JoshCassidy84 crosses the finish line of the WPA World Marathon Championships with a time of 1:41:43 while @tristan_smyth comes in with a time of 1:43:06!

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) April 28, 2019

Canadian wheelchair athletes Josh Cassidy and Tristan Smyth finished in 1:41:43 and 1:43:06, for 18th and 20th, respectively. Cassidy won the Boston Marathon and set a new course record in 2012.

RELATED: Cassidy breaks record in Boston

Among the women wheelchair athletes it was Switzerland’s Manuela Schär in first (1:44:09), the US’s Tatyana McFadden in second (1:49:42) and Australia’s Madison di Rozario, the Commonwealth Games champion and 2018 London champion third, in 1:49:43. Schär, 34, who set the London course record in 2017, has now swept the Abbott World Majors Series XII.

The visually impaired event was won by Misato Michishita of Japan in 3:06:18, followed by Edneusa de Jesus Santos Dorta of Brazil in 3:13:17 in second and Maria Paredes Rodriguez of Spain in 3:13:19.