The Swiss star won the women's wheelchair race, the first in the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series.

Schaer won the previous series in April this year, and started her title defence by breaking the world record with a time of 1 hour 36min 53sec.

Schaer herself held the previous record set in 2013, shared with Japan’s Wakako Tsuchida, but she has now beaten this by more than a minute. 

Her marathon win was also her third consecutive victory in the German capital.

"I knew from the start that a lot is possible on Berlin's fast track, even if the record was not my primary goal," said Schaer.

"First, I wanted to win and therefore I started the race quickly."

American Susannah Scaroni finished second with a time of 1:41.44 and the Swiss former Berlin Marathon champion Sandra Graf finished third in 1:04.55.

Multiple major marathon champion Tatyana McFadden of the United States finished in ninth place with a time of 2:02.21, racing in a borrowed wheelchair after her own was damaged a day earlier in training.

In the men’s marathon, Canadian Lakatos claimed his first major marathon victory, beating defending champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland with a time of 1:29.04.

Lakatos only made his marathon debut one year ago in Berlin, and this year finished three minutes faster than his seventh place finish in 2017.

Hug finished in 1:29.44, while Briton JohnBoy Smith, a silver medallist at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, finished third with a time of 1:29.44.