ALYSON DIXON booked her place at this summer’s Olympic Games as she was the highest-finishing British female in the Virgin Money London Marathon.

Dixon, who is from Sunderland, finished in 13th position in a time of 2:31.52, with her team-mate, Sonia Samuels a place behind her.

With both runners having already achieved the Olympic qualifying time, they are now guaranteed a place on the British squad for Rio.

“It’s incredible, absolutely amazing, it’s a dream come true,” said Dixon, who is a member of Sunderland Strollers. “It’s 20-odd years of hard work and you know you dream about these things, you dream about how you’re going to celebrate.

“You spend weeks thinking about what you’re going to say, and then you do it and you’re just absolutely gobsmacked and you can’t find the words to put what you’re feeling.

“The last few miles were tough. My legs were cramping up and I’ve a blister on my toe. I was hurting, but I was smiling and I feel incredible. The crowd were amazing – they were so noisy.”

Dixon’s Olympic place is reward for an intensive winter programme that saw the Wearsider spend a prolonged period training in Kenya in order to improve her stamina.

The 37-year-old competed in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, but was unable to complete the race after suffering an injury shortly before the halfway stage.

Kenya’s Jemima Sumgong won yesterday’s women’s race despite banging her head in a heavy fall. Sumgong took a tumble at around 22 miles, tangling feet with Aselefech Mergia in an incident that also saw pre-race favourite Mary Keitany fall and never fully recover.

Sumgong, who has been a runner-up in the Boston, Chicago and New York marathons, cracked her head against the road, but re-joined the pack and eventually outpaced defending champion Tigist Tufa to win in 2:22.58.

Fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge ran the second fastest time in history as he retained his men’s crown in course record time.

The 31-year-old left the field trailing as he powered home in 2:03.04, and while he only missed out on the world record by seven seconds, he was still able to take considerable satisfaction from a stunning run.

“I realised I ran a world record for 30 (kilometres), but between 30 and 40 I lost about 20 seconds,” said Kipchoge. “I knew the record was close. I tried to squeeze it, but it wasn’t possible.”

Another Kenyan, Stanley Biwott, was second, with Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele finishing third. Callum Hawkins was the highest-placed Briton, with his eighth-place finish securing him an Olympic spot, and Tsegai Tewelde, who finished 12th, is also bound for Rio.

Tewelde is from Eritrea, and claimed asylum in Britain after competing in the 2008 World Cross-Country Championships in Edinburgh.

David Weir was denied a record seventh title as Swiss Marcel Hug won a sprint finish in the men’s wheelchair race.

Weir, who finished second in 2014 and 2015, was edged into third this time, with American Kurt Fearnley forcing his way into the runner-up spot.

Middlesbrough’s Jade Jones had to drop out of the women’s wheelchair race after suffering a puncture.