Records

The Russian already held the unofficial world best for this distance, set over the same course in 2004, and his silver at that year’s Olympics confirmed his pedigree. 

Nizhegorodov finally got his hands on the official mark earlier this year at Cheboksary. He smashed Australian Nathan Deakes’ world record by 1:18, coming in at 3:34:14. This performance left him $80,000 richer: $30,000 for winning, $50,000 for breaking the record. Not bad for a walk in the park.