CNN
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Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won a thrilling women’s race at the London Marathon on Sunday, striding away from everyone else to take victory and set a new women’s-only world record too.
Assefa finished the course in 2:15:50, smashing the previous women’s-only record – the fastest marathon time set by a female runner without male pacemakers – by 26 seconds. Although the 28-year-old flirted with breaking Paula Radcliffe’s course record of 2:15:25 set 22 years ago, that was ultimately a step too far for her.
In the men’s race, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe secured the biggest win of his career with a time of 2:02:27, attacking at the drinks station while his competitors slowed down and going on to cross the line alone.
Behind him, Jacob Kiplimo – the half-marathon world record holder – finished second in his much anticipated marathon debut.
In the women’s wheelchair race, Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner set a course record, sprinting down the finishing straight on The Mall to cross the line in 1:34:18. She finished just two seconds outside her own world record, setting a blistering pace that none of her competitors could match. The USA’s Susannah Scaroni finished almost four minutes back in second place while Switzerland’s Manuela Schär rounded out the podium with a time of 1:41:06.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race to take his seventh overall, and fifth consecutive, title in London. The 39-year-old completed the course in 1:25:25, almost a minute ahead of second-placed Tomoki Suzuki, securing his second major marathon victory of the week after winning in Boston on Monday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.