She was joined by Tigist Assefa, Megertu Alemu, and Joyciline Jepkosgei in beating the previous record of 2:17:01.

In the men's race, Kenya's Alexander Mutiso Munyao won with a time of 2:04:01, holding off Kenenisa Bekele.

Emile Cairess and Mahamed Mahamed finished third and fourth for the British team, with Cairess setting a new personal best of 2:06:46, making him the second-fastest British man over the distance.

The text reports on the qualification of Cairess and Mahamed for the Olympics in the wheelchair races, with both finishing under the qualifying time of 2:08:10.

Switzerland had double success as Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won their respective races comfortably.

Hug, a four-time London Marathon winner, finished 31 seconds ahead of Daniel Romanchuk, while Debrunner led for most of the women's race and won by over six minutes against Manuela Schar.

The women's race was considered one of the best ever assembled, with three of the four fastest women in history competing.

A group of female marathon runners were leading the race in London with no male athletes, aiming for a women-only record.

They quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

As the lead group thinned, only Jepchirchir, Assefa, Jepkosgei, and Alemu remained.

They ran together until the final stretch, where Jepchirchir kicked for the win.

The 30-year-old Kenyan crossed the finish line first, defeating Assefa to secure her victory in London for the first time.