Haven Hailu Desse led a 1-2 finish for Ethiopia in Sunday's Osaka Women's Marathon, with Japan's Yuka Ando coming in third.
Desse finished in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 13 seconds, almost one minute ahead of second-place finisher Sisay Meseret Gola. Ando clocked 2:22:59.
The top three finishers were in the leading group until the last pacemaker peeled off at the 30-kilometer mark.
Ando, who ran the 10,000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, soon dropped back, and then Desse pulled away from Gola with about 10 km to go and never looked back.
"I'm so happy that I won the race," Desse said. "I'll try to win and renew my personal best time in the upcoming marathons."
The race started and finished at Yanmar Field Nagai in Osaka, passing by some of the city's landmarks such as Osaka Castle.
The Osaka marathon had international runners for the first time in three years amid the continued spread of coronavirus infections in Japan.
"I'm frustrated at having been unable to keep up with them after 30 km and break my own record," Ando said.
Ando is scheduled to run the Marathon Grand Championship this October in Tokyo, where she could earn a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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