Kenya's Edna Kiplagat became
the first woman to win back-to-back World Marathon titles in the scorching heat of Moscow earlier today. The experienced Kenyan ran 2:25:44 to take the title, less than 100m ahead of surprise Italian silver medallist Valeria Stroneo, who had led the race for 40km.
It's Italy's best finish in the Women's marathon, and their first medal since 1995. The race itself started at 2pm to facilitate Japanese viewers, and their runners made the change worth it, with Kayoko Fukushi taking the bronze medal, ahead of team-mate Ryoke Kisaki in 4th place. In a massive shake-up to the form book, only one African athlete made the Top 20, with Kenya's Lucy Wangui Kabuu the second African home in 24th place. Both the Olympic Champion Tika Gelana, and team-mate Meselech Melkamu (who was 3rd for much of the race) failed to finish in a desperately disappointing performance by the Ethiopian athletes/