Italy's Maria Guida celebrated her first major title as she won the women's marathon at the European Athletics Championships in Munich.

The 36-year-old trailed Germany's Luminita Zaituc by about 30 seconds at the halfway mark but broke clear to take gold in a time of 2:26.05.

Guida finished 53 seconds clear of Zaituc, whose team-mate Sonja Oberem claimed bronze.

The victory gave Italy its first gold medal of the championships.

"I was in the right state of mind, good form, and now I am the champion," said Guida.

"Maybe this is the last marathon of my life. I knew this was my last chance to get a big title so I did everything possible to achieve it.

"I've waited so long for this moment because so far I've been so unlucky in my career."

Guida qualified for the 10,000m final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but could not compete because of an Achilles injury.

She then suffered a hairline fracture of her tibia just two days before the marathon at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

She failed to finish the London Marathon this year after acting as pacemaker for eventual winner Paula Radcliffe.

Oberem was finally able to celebrate a medal after a remarkable series of finishes in the world championships.

She was eighth in 1995, seventh in 1997, sixth in 1996 and fifth in Edmonton last year.

Despite being a favourite and among the leaders through at least two-thirds of the race, Belgium's Marleen Renders failed to finish.