4 September 2011 – Daegu, Korea – With his record-setting IAAF World Championships Marathon victory in Berlin two years ago, Abel Kirui showed that he was as equally gifted in championship racing as he was in commercial Marathons which use pacemakers. He had run a 2:05:04 personal best at the Fortis Marathon Rotterdam earlier that year, good for third position, and with his 2:06:54 championships record in Berlin he appeared to be on his way to dominating the sport.