Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich won the Olympic men's marathon, beating Kenya's two time world gold medallist Abel Kirui and London marathon champion Wilson Kipsang.
It was his country's first medal of the Games and came in the final event of the athletics programme.
Kiprotich led at the 37km mark, despite appearing to suffer discomfort in his leg minutes earlier, and went on to win Uganda's first medal at London 2012.
Kipsang had made an early break, splitting the field and passing through the halfway stage in 63 minutes 15 seconds. He was gradually reeled in and joined by Kiprotich and Kirui by the 30-km point in a three-man race for the gold.
Stephen Kiprotich rounded a corner with three miles left and simply took off, turning the last mile into a victory lap as he easily captured the marathon Sunday, along with the first medal for Uganda at the London Games.
“I saw him coming like a cheetah,” Kirui said. “It was very hard to control that kind of move.” As he headed into the Mall, Kiprotich, who moved to Kenya as a teenager to train, could afford to begin smiling and pointing his finger in the air as he closed in on his win. He was already draped in the Ugandan flag by the time he broke the tape.
The race, past some of London's most notable landmarks, started and finished in the Mall near Buckingham Palace. It comprised one short and three longer circuits through the heart of the capital.
"It means a lot [to Uganda]," said Kiprotich. "Since 1972 we have never won a gold medal, so they are very happy."
Uganda's last Olympic champion was 400m hurdler John Akii-Bua, who won gold at Munich in 1972.
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