Report-www.european-athletics.org
In only her second ever attempt over the marathon distance, the 35-year-old former 5,000m European Cup silver medallist (1999, 2000) who had looked strong throughout the race, broke away from the pack with a powerful kick in the 24th mile, beating two-time London runner-up, Svetlana Zakharova from Russia.
Mikitenko made the change from track to marathon last year, when she finished second to Gete Wami in Berlin, yet this time round the Ethiopian pre-race favourite and Reigning World Marathon Majors Champion, had to settle for a disappointing third place after suffering from a heavy fall at a feeding station just before the 30km mark.
Despite the absence of home favourite, marathon queen Paula Radcliffe, there were some exciting personal best performances from the host nation. Liz Yelling, the first European home at the World Cross Country Championships held in Edinburgh last month, and Dan Robinson, the fastest European home at last years London Marathon, both ran personal bests to almost certainly book their places in Beijing.
women | Split: finish
In only her second ever attempt over the marathon distance, the 35-year-old former 5,000m European Cup silver medallist (1999, 2000) who had looked strong throughout the race, broke away from the pack with a powerful kick in the 24th mile, beating two-time London runner-up, Svetlana Zakharova from Russia.
Mikitenko made the change from track to marathon last year, when she finished second to Gete Wami in Berlin, yet this time round the Ethiopian pre-race favourite and Reigning World Marathon Majors Champion, had to settle for a disappointing third place after suffering from a heavy fall at a feeding station just before the 30km mark.
Despite the absence of home favourite, marathon queen Paula Radcliffe, there were some exciting personal best performances from the host nation. Liz Yelling, the first European home at the World Cross Country Championships held in Edinburgh last month, and Dan Robinson, the fastest European home at last years London Marathon, both ran personal bests to almost certainly book their places in Beijing.
women | Split: finish
position | pl.age | # | name | age | club | time |
1 | 1 | 108 | » MIKITENKO, IRINA (GER) | W35 | 2:24:14 | |
2 | 2 | 105 | » ZAKHAROVA, SVETLANA (RUS) | W35 | 2:24:39 | |
3 | 1 | 106 | » WAMI, GETE (ETH) | W30 | 2:25:37 | |
4 | 2 | 107 | » KOSGEI, SALINA (KEN) | W30 | 2:26:30 | |
5 | 3 | 103 | » PETROVA, LUDMILA (RUS) | W35 | 2:26:45 | |
6 | 1 | 109 | » AIT SALEM, SOUAD (ALG) | W25 | 2:27:41 | |
7 | 3 | 102 | » ADERE, BERHANE (ETH) | W30 | 2:27:42 | |
8 | 4 | 104 | » DITA, CONSTANTINA (ROM) | W35 | 2:27:45 | |
9 | 4 | 114 | » YELLING, LIZ (GBR) | W30 | 2:28:33 | |
10 | 2 | 115 | » PIRTEA, ADRIANA (ROM) | W25 | 2:28:52 |