ROME, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Siraj Gena of Ethiopia took off his shoes to sprint across the finish line to win the Rome marathon on Sunday, beating a pair of Kenyan rivals.
Gena ran barefoot in the last 500 meters to beat Benson Barus and Nixon Machichim for the top honor in two hours, eight minutes and 39 seconds.
In running barefoot, Gena was paying homage to compatriot Abebe Bikila who won the 1960 Olympic marathon gold in Rome having run the entire course without shoes.
In the women's race, Firehiwot Dado led an Ethiopian sweep of the podium positions in two hours, 25 minutes and 28 seconds.
Kebebush Haile was second in 2:25.31 and Mare Dibaba third with 2:25.38.
About 15,000 runners took part in the race.
