Michael Kipyego of Kenya won the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, pulling ahead of Haile Gebrselassie at the 38km mark for his first career victory.

Gebrselassie had taken a turn at the front of the field but Kipyego surged ahead with 4km left and crossed the finish line in a time of two 2 hours, seven minutes and 37 seconds.

Gebrselassie, who finished fourth in 2:08:17, was aiming to secure a place on the Ethiopian team for the London Olympics but needed to run under 2:04 to boost his chances

Japan’s Arata Fujiwara was second in 2:07:48, followed by Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich.