Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana revelled in the rain as she claimed a surprise gold medal in the London Olympic marathon.
The 24-year-old, competing in her first major championship, set a new Olympic record of two hours 23.07 minutes as she held off the Kenyan challenge. She could even afford to slip in the tricky conditions and she showed plenty of strength down The Mall at the finish.
Of the Irish, Linda Byrne finished in 66th in a time of 2:37.13. Ava Hutchison was 68th - 2:37.17. Catríona Jennings finished in last place (107th), with a time of 3:22.11.
Kenya's Priscah Jeptoo took silver, five seconds back, and Russia's Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova the bronze, leaving the pre-race favourite, Kenya's Mary Keitany, to settle for fourth
Gelana said: "It was a great race. I really loved it. The rain makes it very interesting. As soon as the rain started, I said to myself 'Thank God'.
"I love running in the rain, I have been doing that since I was a small child.
"I slipped in the middle of the race and my elbow is still injured. But I didn't feel any pain during the race."
The rain was pouring down for the start on The Mall and the streets were lined with spectators under Union Jack umbrellas.
The tight lapped course featured one small loop of two miles followed by three larger ones of eight and taking in landmark sights like St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London.
With the Kenyan and Ethiopian contingent happy to remain patient, there was still a main group of around 40 athletes with a couple of seconds at the 15km mark before Italy's Valeria Straneo attempted to start to stretch them out.
The leaders, with Straneo still at the front, went through halfway in 1hr 13.13mins.
The pack gradually became stretched, one by one athletes dropped back and going into the final couple of kilometres there were just four in contention.
Two-time reigning London Marathon champion Keitany had no more to give, though, leaving Gelana, Jeptoo and Petrova Arkhipova to fight it out for the medals.
The Ethiopian always looked the stronger and she surged away down The Mall to take victory.
She added: "I was confident before the race that I could win it. I have been saving my energy for this. It really paid off.
"This gold medal is a gift for all Ethiopians."
Jeptoo said: "I am very, very happy to win the silver medal. I had to react to try to follow Tiki at the end, but also the Russian was following. So I am happy with silver."
Petrova Arkhipova added: "I am very happy and tearful because I didn't expect to get third.
"I was frightened until the end because the African runners are very strong. I tried to stay with them, and I did. I am very proud."
