KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's Nina Rillstone finished a gritty 16th in a rough run Olympic Games women's marathon in Beijing today, with teammate Liza Hunter-Galvan 35th.
Waif-like Rillstone, 32, who ran the 42.2km race in two hours 31 minutes 16 seconds, found herself in a rare marathon photo finish. Ethiopian Dire Tune nailed her right on the line, with both runners given the same time.
Rillstone was in a large lead pack through halfway in the grind with Hunter-Galvan at close hand.
The packed lead group caused her to miss an early drink station and she receiving a buffeting as runners changed direction and pace.
She was lucky to avoid a fall when Briton Liz Yelling went down right in front of her after about 15km.
Soon after halfway Rillstone had slipped 80m off the lead group, with Hunter-Galvan another 23 seconds back, as Romanian Constantina Tomescu made a solo break in search of gold.
Tomescu cleared out to win in 2hr 26min 44secs, with Kenyan Catherine Ndereba taking the silver in 2hr 27min 6sec after a frantic sprint with Chunxiu Zhu of China.
Aucklander Rillstone worked through the field from as far back as 23rd, picking up the running flotsam left in the wake of Tomescu. Her best coming to Beijing was 2hr 29min 46sec.
Texas-based Hunter-Galvan, 39, had a torrid last 7km, slipping from 21st to 35th. She felt dizzy and was troubled by cramps, and needed assistance when she fell to the ground after crossing the line.
- NZPA
