Samuel Wanjiru broke an Olympic record older than he is, and in doing so accomplished something no one from the great running nation of Kenya had—win an Olympic marathon.

The 21-year-old raced away from the field in the final stages Sunday, finishing in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds. That trimmed nearly three minutes off a mark that had stood for 24 years.

Coming in, this was a race defined more for who wasn’t running—world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie opted out based on worries about air pollution, which turned out not to be an issue following overnight rain. Now the race will be remembered as Wanjiru’s breakthrough moment.

Watch out, Haile, your mark might be next.

“My target is to break the world record,” Wanjiru said of Gebrselassie’s 2:04.26 time.

This from a runner who had just completed only his third marathon.

He won by powering away from silver medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, a two-time world champion, beating him by 44 seconds. Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede took the bronze in 2:10:00.

Wanjiru’s strategy was simple—push, push, push the pace through the 26.2-mile race.