On Monday, Meb Keflezighi became the first American man to win the Boston Marathon in 31 years. Though his 2014 Boston Marathon performance marked one of the great American sports moments in recent memory, his triumph was celebrated some 6,500 miles away, in Keflezighi’s native Eritrea, a small African country on the border of Ethiopia.

“As an Eritrean, I am absolutely thrilled and delighted Meb has been able to repay his adopted Nation with a sporting triumph. This is even more so given the tragic incident of 2013,” Daniel Kidane, assistant editor of TesfaNews, said in an email. “My heart-felt congratulations to Meb and the people of Boston.”

Keflezighi, a 38-year-old Eritrean-American, didn’t run the 2013 Boston Marathon due to injury.

He immigrated to the states in the late 1990’s, and later ran for UCLA. A 2004 Athens Olympics silver-medalist, Keflezighi saw his career sidetracked by a hip-injury, which prevented him from participating the 2008 Olympics. He battled back from the injury – overcoming the death of his friend, fellow running partner Ryan Shay in the process – to eventually win the 2009 New York City Marathon. In 2012, he fell short of a podium spot at the London Olympics.

On Twitter, TesfaNews describes itself as “an independent online magazine with quality news, and information materials on Eritrea.” Coincidentally, TesfaNews was voted best Eritrean news and information website of the year.

Monday afternoon, TesfaNews ran USA Today’s coverage of the Keflezighi’s victory, and shared what will surely become one of the iconic photos of the 118th Boston Marathon.

With a time of 2:08.37, Keflezighi,  became the first American man to win the Boston Marathon since Greg Meyer, who accomplished the feat in 1983 with a time of 2:09 flat.

Flickr image via jbchan

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