'Surging' Wanjiru, 21, wins Kenya's first marathon gold

BEIJING -- Samuel Kamau Wanjiru may be destined for marathon greatness. His age and times suggest success.

At 21, he's already guaranteed a claim to fame: When he won the men's marathon Sunday morning, he became the first Kenyan to do so at the Olympics. "In Kenya this is history," he said.

Kenya, for all its success at the distance -- having eight of the 12 best times ever and consistently winning at the Boston, New York City and Chicago marathons -- had never won gold at 26.2 miles.

Wanjiru took care of that Sunday, finishing in an Olympic-record 2hours, 6minutes, 32seconds, nearly three minutes better than the time established by Carlos Lopes of Portugal in 1984. Jaouad Gharib of Morocco was second (2:07:16) and Ethiopia's Tsegay Kebede, third (2:10:00).

"Today was very hard because of the weather," said Wanjiru of the temperatures from ...