Petros, Vainio set new championship records to win Euro marathons

Eritrean-born German Amanal Petros and Finland's Alisa Vainio won the men and women's marathons at the European championships in Birmingham on Sunday.

Petros, the Olympic silver medallist, claimed victory in a championship record of 2hr 09min 11sec, beating by 40sec Belgian Koen Naert's previous best set in Berlin in 2018.

Italy's Pietro Riva, who took European silver in the half-marathon in Rome two years ago, claimed silver in 2:09.18, just 3sec ahead of Ethiopian-born Israeli Gashau Ayale.

Vainio, who finished fifth at last year's world champs in Tokyo, clocked a dominant winning time of 2:22.26, her long solo effort beating by almost three minutes the previous championship record set by France's Christelle Daunay in Zurich in 2014.

Hungary took silver through Lili Anna Vindics-Toth, in a personal best of 2:27:21, while Britain's Abbie Donnelly picked up bronze (2:27:33).