Ethiopia was on Monday basking in glory after winning its first Olympic Games gold medal in the women's marathon in 16 years.

Tiki Gelana, was the unlikely winner on Sunday after finishing in two hours 23 minutes and seven seconds to grab Ethiopia's second gold in London.

The country's first gold medal came from Tirunesh Dibaba in the women 1,000 meters race.

Gelana was given a good run for her money by Kenyan and Russian athletes.

"It was a great day for us to get our second gold," said Metaferia Berhanu in Addis Ababa.

The Horn of Africa country last won gold in the category at the 1996 Atlanta games.

"To be frank we didn't expect a gold medal in the marathon. Gelana is special and is our queen."

Ethiopia is ranked second in Africa after South Africa on the medal table. South Africa has won three gold medals.

The country is likely to increase it medals tally with the men's marathon, and women 5,000m race still to come later this week.