Lel shrugs off politics and the opposition in London

Published on Monday 14 April 2008 00:33

MARTIN Lel had no problems defending his Flora London Marathon title yesterday despite having his preparations interrupted by the recent political unrest in Kenya.

In a race run at world-record pace until the last six miles, Lel claimed a third London title in four years by smashing Khalid Khannouchi's course record. Fellow Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru was second and last year's runner-up Abderrahim Goumri third as the first three home all broke the previous course record.

Lel, who had to switch his training base to Namibia at the beginning of the year when fighting erupted in his homeland, stormed to victory in two hours, five minutes and 15 seconds.

"I knew I had to use my experience today and if I made a mistake I would lose," said the 29-year-old, who sprinted clear in the last 400 metres to win by nine seconds with Goumri third, a further six seconds back.

It was the first time three athletes had gone under 2hrs 6mins in the same race, with the next three, Emmanuel Mutai, Ryan Hall and Deriba Merga, all under 2:07 with lifetime bests.

The women's race saw a shock result when Germany's Irina Mikitenko ran away from her much more fancied rivals over the last two miles to win in a personal best of 2:24.14.

The 35-year-old Kazakhstan-born athlete fully deserved her victory after leading for well over half the race, although it might have been different if Gete Wami had not fallen just before 18 miles. The Ethiopian pre-race favourite collided with Algeria's Souad Ait Salem at a water station but recovered to finish third behind Mikitenko and Svetlana Zakharova.

Liz Yelling won her domestic duel with Hayley Haining to almost certainly assure her of a second British Olympic vest in Beijing this summer. With top Brits Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi assured of their places, the race was an eagerly-awaited contest between the English and Scottish runners for the third spot in the team.

Yelling eventually won the battle as both of them bettered 2:30 for the first time with personal best times of 2:28.33 and 2:29.18 in ninth and 12th positions. "Before the race I had my own plan but decided to go with the field as the early pace wasn't so fast," said Yelling.

"It really was hard work between 13 and 18 miles and looking back I could see Hayley in the distance which gave me a big kick up the bottom.

"I felt under pressure as I could see that she was speeding up. I told myself 'if Hayley is going to get this, I'm going to make her work for it and if she does she will deserve it'."

Haining, a veterinary pathologist at Glasgow University, added: "At 18 miles, we were getting closer. At 19 miles I was going into a roundabout as she was coming off it and we just looked at one another. But I'm delighted with breaking 2:30 and my performance."

Dan Robinson was the first British man home in 2:13.10, just four seconds behind reigning Olympic champion Stefano Baldini. Robinson, who set a personal best, is already assured of an Olympic place after finishing 11th in last year's World Championships in Osaka.