Tomescu wins marathon, Curley off the pace

Romania's Constantina Tomescu won the women's Olympic marathon in the early hours of this morning with a dominant solo run from…

Romania's Constantina Tomescu won the women's Olympic marathon in the early hours of this morning with a dominant solo run from the halfway point.

The 38-year-old made her move after a large leading group set a plodding early pace and, with nobody choosing to respond, was a minute clear inside the final 10km.

Tomescu, third in the 2005 world championships, stretched that gap further over the closing stages to win in two hours, 26 minutes 44 seconds.

Pre-race favourite Catherine Ndereba of Kenya beat China's Zhou Chunxiu for silver in a down-to-the-wire sprint as around 50,000 patiently-waiting fans cheered the home favourite.

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Ireland's Pauline Curley was 63rd in a time of 2:47:16.

Paula Radcliffe, Britain's world record holder, was dropped from the chasing pack just past the 30km mark and was clearly not in top form after spending weeks nursing a thigh injury.

Radcliffe was forced to stop at one stage but battled on in visible pain to finish 23rd before bursting into tears after crossing the finish line.