Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa and Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei set a torrid pace down the stretch in Sunday’s London Marathon, but it was Assefa who pulled away to set a women’s-only world record in winning the race.

Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won the elite women’s London Marathon after crossing the line in 2:15:48 That was the women’s only world record for the 28-year-old Ethiopian by 28 seconds. Assefa took it up early and had the stamina to set an incredible time. Paula Radcliffe’s course record survived.

Tigst Assefa made up for coming second in last year's marathon to coast home in the women's London Marathon in a world record time of 2hr 15min 50sec on Sunday. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe won the men's London marathon in a time of 2hr 02min 27sec.