Mokoka misses SA marathon record by 9 sec finishing fifth in Osaka

Stephen Mokoka became only the third South African to break the two-hour, seven-minute barrier in the marathon as he finished fifth in Osaka on Sunday in 2 hr 6 min 42 sec.

He missed Gert Thys’ 2:06:33 South African record set in Tokyo in 1999 by just nine seconds.

Hailemaryam Kiros of Ethiopia won the Osaka Marathon in 2:06:01, two seconds ahead of Victor Kiplagat of Uganda.

The 38-year-old Mokoka, fifth in this event at the 2019 world championships in Doha, improved his best time by nearly a minute.

The 2:07:40 he ran in Shanghai in November 2015 had ranked him fifth on the South African list behind Thys, Hendrick Ramaala (2:06:55), Ian Syster (2:07:06) and Josia Thugwane (2:07:28). ​

Now he’s second on the all-time list.