Sunday, August 17, 2008 - 12:55 PM

Romania's Constantina Tomescu became the oldest winner ever in an Olympic marathon when she won the Beijing race today.

The 38-year-old, who bettered compatriot Lidia Simon's silver medal from the 2000 Games, beat home world champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya who won her second successive Olympic silver medal while China's Zhou Chunxiu was third.

There was more Olympic misery for Britain's world record holder Paula Radcliffe as she faded to finish 23rd.

Radcliffe finished limping badly on the left leg which she suffered a stress fracture off earlier this year. She is still without an Olympic medal.

Benita Johnson was the best-placed Australian in 21st place. Lisa Jane Weightman finished 33rd while Kate Smyth was 44th.

Tomescu made her move after a large leading group set a plodding early pace and, with nobody choosing to respond, was a minute clear inside the final 10km.

Tomescu, third in the 2005 world championships, stretched that gap further over the closing stages to win in two hours, 26 minutes and 44 seconds.Pre-race favourite Ndereba beat China's Zhou for silver in a down-to-the-wire sprint as around 50,000 patiently-waiting fans cheered the home favourite.World champion Ndereba, silver medallist four years ago, showed little sign of life in the first part of the race.She hit the half-marathon mark in 26th place and briefly faded from the pack only to gather speed again in the closing stages and finish in 2:27.06, a second ahead of Zhou.Kenya, who have dominated the marathon for decades, have never won Olympic gold in the women's event.Radcliffe, Britain's world record holder, was dropped from the chasing pack just past the 30km mark and was clearly not in top form after spending weeks nursing a thigh injury.Radcliffe was forced to stop at one stage but battled on in visible pain to finish 23rd before bursting into tears after crossing the finish line.