Ghebreslassie wins New York marathon men's title

Eritrean Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, the reigning world marathon champion, captured the 40th New York City Marathon men's title on Sunday, the first winner from outside Kenya since 2010.

Eight days shy of his 21st birthday, the prodigy accelerated at the halfway mark and overwhelmed his rivals to run alone over the final miles to win in two hours, seven minutes and 51 seconds.

Ghebreslassie's New York debut came after a fourth-place showing at London and the Rio Olympics.

At the halfway mark, a trio pulled away from the pack -- Ghebreslassie, Kenya's Lucas Rotich and Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, last year's Boston Marathon champion.

In the 20th mile, Ghebreslassie surged away from Rotich and Desisa, accelerating ahead to pull away from his last threats.

Rotich was second in 2:08:53 and shared a high five with his countryman, who ran back down the course to greet Rotich.

American Abdi Abdirahman, 39, was third in 2:11:23 with Japan's Hiroyuki Yamamoto fourth in his New York debut, another 26 seconds adrift.

Kenya's Stanley Biwott, last year's New York champion, was out before the halfway mark in another disappointment at the scene of his first major marathon crown.

In August at Rio, Biwott dropped out at the halfway point of the Olympic marathon, saying he was given the wrong water bottle and that caused stomach problems.