If versatility equals greatness than Derartu Tulu joined the stratosphere of distance running legends when she won the London Marathon yesterday. On the day the race celebrated its 21st anniversary, she came of age at a distance which has special significance in her native Ethiopia.

Tulu's credentials were already firmly established on the track after two Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 metres and at cross country with three world titles, but on the road she had previously failed to make the same kind of impression following four mediocre marathons.

That was spectacularly rectified here as the 29-year-old won in two hours 23 minutes and 56 seconds against a field which included the Olympic silver and bronze medallists and the fastest female runner in history. It was more than two minutes quicker than she had run before.

She even survived a late scare when two interlopers ran on to the course in the home straight down The Mall, forcing her to swerve as they were bundled off the course by David Bedford, the race director. If they had tripped her and she had failed to win it would have cost her sterling £55,500 in prize and bonus money.

Tulu's performance will have given hope to Paul Tergat that, given time, he too can make a really successful transition from 10,000m to the marathon. On his debut at the distance, after five consecutive world cross country titles, the Kenyan finished a highly promising second to Morocco's Abdelkader El Mouaziz, winner of this race for the second time in three years.

El Mouaziz clocked 2:07.10 with Tergat running 2:08.14, which ranks among the fastest debuts in history. Britain's Mark Steinle finished sixth in a personal best 2:10.45 to claim the scalp of Abel Anton, Spain's 1997 and 1999 world champion.

But the men's race did not match the women's for drama and suspense. They had run less than two miles when Tegla Loroupe, the defending champion and world record holder, stopped with a hamstring problem.

It looked like the Kenyan was ready to abandon the race but she started running again and astonishingly clawed back a 53-second deficit to rejoin the leading group with six miles remaining. She paid the price, however, falling back in the last four miles and finally finishing eighth in 2:26.08.

Yet it is hard to believe Loroupe could have coped with Tulu's searing pace in the final mile. The prison police officer gave us a glimpse of the famed finishing kick which ended Paula Radcliffe's gold medal hopes in the Olympic 10,000m last year.

In the shadow of Big Ben, the bell tolled for Romania's Lidia Simon and Kenya's Joyce Chepchumba, second and third in the Olympic marathon, when Tulu accelerated away. Russia's Svetlana Zakharova finished second, six seconds behind.

The weight of history was riding on Tulu's slender shoulders. The marathon has always been popular in Ethiopia since the great Abebe Bikila claimed the 1960 and 1964 Olympic marathon titles and for this race she had been preparing with Gezahegne Abere, the latest in line to Bikila's throne when he won the marathon in Sydney.

Tulu has overcome cultural taboos that once made it difficult for women to run to establish herself as the most popular female figure in Ethiopia. After Barcelona and Sydney many newborn girls were given the name "Tulu" and public buildings have been named after her.

"There was a lot of male chauvinism but that is beginning to disappear because they see that we can be as strong as them," she said. "Now the men are proud of us."

El Mouaziz broke away approaching 22 miles, piling on the pressure until Tergat cracked. His winning margin of 64 seconds was the widest since 1986 and he would surely have broken the course record of 2:06.36 set by Portugal's Antonio Pinto last year if it had not been for the wind.

After crossing the line, El Mouaziz sunk to his knees and kissed the surface while offering praise to Allah. It was his first race since winning the New York last November and his record in London now reads: second, first, second, first. Pinto retained his record of never finishing outside the top three in seven appearances as he took the bronze medal.