Reviewed by Richard KimaroTanzania sports betting writer
Published 26 August 2026
Alphonce Simbu and Magdalena Shauri are both in the elite field for the TCS Sydney Marathon on Sunday 30 August, with Simbu going to the start line as the reigning world marathon champion.
Sydney is one of the World Marathon Majors, and the two athletes give Tanzania a presence in both elite races on the same morning. Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning women’s world champion, heads the women’s field, so both reigning world marathon champions are in the same race programme.
Simbu arrives with a world title
Simbu won the marathon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the first world athletics title Tanzania has ever won. His personal best stands at 2:02:47. Sydney is a step up in a different way from a championship race, because a Major is run on time rather than on tactics, and the pacing group goes from the gun instead of waiting for the last five kilometres.
That matters for how a Tanzanian audience should read the result. A world title is won by beating whoever turns up on the day. A Major is won by holding a pace nobody in the field can hold longer, and the men’s line up in Sydney was assembled to make that happen.
Shauri carries the national record
Shauri holds the Tanzanian record and finished third at the Chicago Marathon in 2025. Her season has been built abroad rather than at home, which is now the pattern for the small group of Tanzanian women racing at this level, and it is why a Sunday in Sydney counts as a domestic sports story.
Tanzanian athletics has no domestic fixture list to carry a month like this one. What it has instead is a handful of careers on the Majors circuit, and this weekend puts two of them in the same race programme. AXN Sports will carry the results when they land.
Where to bet: marathon markets are thinner than football markets in Tanzania, so expect outright winner and head to head prices rather than a deep menu. Betway and SportPesa, both licensed by the Gaming Board of Tanzania, price the Majors in Tanzanian shillings, with deposits by mobile money. Outright prices on a Major move sharply once the elite field is confirmed and again if the weather forecast turns, so the number you see midweek is rarely the number on Sunday morning. Compare the two books before you stake. Our guide to the best betting sites in Tanzania covers licensing and withdrawal times, and there is more in Tanzania athletics news. 18+. Gamble responsibly.
