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).

Israel won the men's team gold thanks to having four runners in the top 12, ahead of Germany and France.

Britain topped the podium in the women's team event ahead of Italy and Spain.