Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana held off Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo to win gold in a soggy Olympic women’s marathon that started and finished in torrential rain on Sunday.

Gelana clocked two hours 23 minutes and seven seconds in a course taking in numerous iconic London landmarks, finishing five seconds ahead of Jeptoo who was unable to reel in her African rival in the finishing straight on The Mall.

Russian Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova won bronze in 2:23.29. Race favourite Mary Keitany of Kenya, twice a London marathon winner, finished fourth after dropping off the leading group in the final three kilometres.

Gelana, 24, was the second Ethiopian woman to win Olympic marathon gold following Fatuma Roba’s triumph in 1996 in Atlanta.