Kenya's Catherine Ndereba made a late surge to win the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Paris on Sunday and give Kenya its first gold of the meet.
Japan's Mizuki Noguchi was second in 2:24:14 while her compatriot Masako Chiba was third in 2:25.09.
Another Japanese, Naoko Sakamoto took fourth place in 2:25:25 and ensured Japan the World Marathon Cup, the team competition.
With around 10kms from the finish, Ndereba broke away from a pack of five runners and finished impressively.