Japan's Risa Shigetomo won the race of the 2012 Osaka International Woman's Marathon on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Shigetomo crossed the line in two hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds, well ahead of Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko of Ukraine, who finished second in two hours 24 minutes and 46 seconds.

Japan's Azusa Nojiri ranked third with a time of two hours, 24 minutes and 57 seconds.

Beijing Olympic champion Constantina Cita of Romania finished at 11th with a time of two hours 40 minutes and 8 seconds.

Shigetomo showed strong and stable run in the final 15 kilometers and her performance took eight minutes off her debut time from last year' s London Marathon.

After the contest, she told reporters that "pace-setters" made rhythm to keep her own running pace without any problem throughout the course, not taking into account of any other runners' time around her during the race. She hoped that the victory will become a ticket for the London Olympics.

The 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon kicked off at 12:10 p.m local time in Nagai Athletic Field in Osaka City. According to the organizer, the 31st edition of the women's marathon had a total of 440 participants. The race also served as a runner selection for the London Olympics from the country but Athens Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi withdrew from the event because of left hamstring injury.

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