Irene Kosgei won Kenya's first-ever Commonwealth Games women's marathon gold medal when she beat teammate Irene Mogake to take the title on Thursday.
Irene Kosgei won Kenya's first-ever Commonwealth Games women's marathon gold medal when she beat teammate Irene Mogake to take the title on Thursday.
Kosgei crossed the line in 2:34.32, some 11 seconds ahead of her compatriot with Australia's Lisa Weightman claiming the bronze.
The tall Kosgei, the fastest woman this year, and Mogake went shoulder-to-shoulder for much of the race, running as a team and talking to each other, before a charge to the finish.
In a race run in difficult circumstances with hot and humid weather, Kosgei proved the stronger of the two after taking the initiative with two kilometres to go.
It was a remarkable recovery by Kosgei who fell heavily at a drinks table in the early part of the race, but got up and carried on.
For much of the race it looked like Namibia's Beata Naigambo was destined for bronze but Weightman timed her race well and launched a challenge in the late stages.
She finally broke Naigambo and with a determined look on her face she upped her pace in a late bid to catch the Kenyans but the gap proved too big and she was forced to settle for third.
The race was an emotional affair following the death of 2002 and 2006 champion Kerryn McCann from Australia in December 2008 from breast cancer.
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