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December 2009
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Germany's Irina Mikitenko wins London Marathon |
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13.04.2008 |
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Germany's former 5,000m star Irina Mikitenko wins her
first Major Marathon in London.
Photo by Picture Alliance |
Germany's Irina Mikitenko was the first woman to cross the finish line at the London Marathon in 2.24.12.
In only her second ever attempt over the marathon distance, the 35-year-old former 5,000m European Cup silver medallist (1999, 2000) who had looked strong throughout the race, broke away from the pack with a powerful kick in the 24th mile, beating two-time London runner-up, Svetlana Zakharova from Russia.
Mikitenko made the change from track to marathon last year, when she finished second to Gete Wami in Berlin, yet this time round the Ethiopian pre-race favourite and Reigning World Marathon Majors Champion, had to settle for a disappointing third place after suffering from a heavy fall at a feeding station just before the 30km mark.
Despite the absence of home favourite, marathon queen Paula Radcliffe, there were some exciting personal best performances from the host nation. Liz Yelling, the first European home at the World Cross Country Championships held in Edinburgh last month, and Dan Robinson, the fastest European home at last years London Marathon, both ran personal bests to almost certainly book their places in Beijing.
A delighted Yelling recorded a time of 2:28.33, capitalising on the excellent injury free season she has had so far in 2008,
"I'm delighted to break the two-and-a-half hour barrier, I'm not sure I ran the best tactical race but I decided to just race and see how much I had. "
"There was a lot of pressure, and it was just a case of trying to keep it in perspective and not let it get to me."
Kenyan Martin Lel took the men's title in 2:05.15, in a race that looked on target to break the world record of Haile Gebrselassie, but their pace slowed towards the end.
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