London glory for Tulu

Derarta Tulu crosses the line at The Mall

Ethiopia's Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu stormed to victory in the women's race at the London Marathon.

The Ethiopian clocked a time of two hours 23 minutes 56 seconds, with Russian Svetlana Zakharova finishing a surprise second and two-time London winner Joyce Chepchumba coming third.

Tulu was part of a small leading pack which included Chepchumba and Olympic silver medallist Lida Simon, who had left the main field early on in the race.

The elite women's race began 30 minutes before the mass event - and there was drama right at the start, as pre-race favourite Tegla Loroupe pulled up injured after just two miles.

The defending champion struggled on, but she was showing signs of serious discomfort.

Superior sprint

Larpoupe's chances of challenging for the title looked remote as she dropped more than a minute behind the leading group,

After passing the 11-mile marker, Loroupe began to accelerate and had soon put herself back into contention.

And by 20 miles she had pulled level with the leaders - and the race was set for a grandstand finish, with seven runners in contention.

But her efforts in the early stages were by now clearly taking the toll on Loroupe - and despite the vocal support of the crowd, she dropped off the pace as the leaders entered the final few miles.

Tulu made a break just past Westminster Bridge and used her superior sprint to finish well ahead of the chasing pack.