Gelena takes marathon gold

Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana took gold in the Olympic marathon by claiming a surprise victory in London today.

The 24-year-old, in her first major championship, crossed the finish line on The Mall in an Olympic record of two hours 23.07 minutes.

Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo took silver and Russia’s Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova the bronze, with pre-race favourite Mary Keitany having to settle for fourth.

Ireland's Linda Byrne came in 68th in 2:27:19, while Ava Hutchinson was 68th with a time of 2:37:17 and Caitriona Jennings struggled in with a time of 3:22:11 in 107th place.

Scotland's Freya Murray, who had only been called up to the team a week ago following Radcliffe's withdrawal, was the first Briton home in 44th place, clocking 2hrs 32.14mins.

Her team-mate Claire Hallissey finished 57th in 2:35.39.

Yamauchi, though, was one of eight in the 118-strong field not to finish.

The 38-year-old, who finished sixth in the Beijing Olympic marathon but has since been plagued by injury, could not live with even the steady early pace of the large leading pack.

“I was more than confident I could give it a good go and I started off but on about the second corner it (my heel) started hurting,” she said.

“I did my best – it’s not the best situation to be in, dropping out of the Olympic marathon at a home Games – but I gave it my very best and I didn’t want my Olympic journey to end like this.

“I’m sorry for all the people who supported me and encouraged me and came today in the pouring rain to support me but I am still so pleased for their help.

“I’ve been doing lots of work cross training and a reasonable amount of running so I knew cardio-vascular wise I was fit and I have been able to run my foot.

“I did think about withdrawing beforehand but I decided it’s not that bad I can run I can do the race and I had much higher hopes but sadly it wasn’t to be.”