Haile Gabreselassie laid further claim to the title of the greatest distance runner ever, when he broke Paul Tergat's old marathon record by 29 seconds, setting a new time of 2:04:26 in the Berlin Marathon. This makes a total of 25 world records he has set over the years.

His decision to end a glittering track career in 2004 to concentrate on the marathon has clearly paid off; he also ran last year's Berlin Marathon and indeed was on course to break the record until he wilted slightly in the final miles. After Sunday's finish, one of the first people to congratulate him over the phone was the previous holder, his good friend Paul Tergat.

That two-hour barrier is begining to loom a little bigger now...