Kenya's Catherine Ndereba made a late surge to win the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Paris on Sunday and give Kenya its first gold of the meet.

The 31-year-old Pennsylvania-based athlete, who held the marathon world record before it was smashed by Britain's Paula Radcliffe, covered the 45-km course in 2hrs 23min 55sec, posting a Championship record in the process.

Japan's Mizuki Noguchi was second in 2:24:14 while her compatriot Masako Chiba was third in 2:25.09.

Another Japanese, Naoko Sakamoto took fourth place in 2:25:25 and ensured Japan the World Marathon Cup, the team competition.

With around 10kms from the finish, Ndereba broke away from a pack of five runners and finished impressively.