Ethiopia has now won the Olympic women’s marathon twice. Fatuma Roba took first at the 1996 Atlanta Games. At the London Games, Ethiopia has won both women’s distance events, with Tirunesh Dibaba taking a gold medal in the 10,000, while its East African rival, Kenya, has twice had to settle for the consolation of silver.

Gelana, Dibaba and Roba are from the same village, Bekoji, located above 9,000 feet in Ethiopia’s southern highlands where many residents live as subsistence farmers. Bekoji is also the hometown of the multiple Olympic champions Kenenisa Bekele and Derartu Tulu, a kind of world running capital.

“It is a running lifestyle in Bekoji, and I am part of that,” Gelana, 24, said.

Gelana had won the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon in 2:18:58, an Ethiopian record, running with a stirring consistency, covering the first half in 69:30 and the second half in 69:28. On Sunday, she showed her versatility with a so-called negative split, covering the second half much faster than the first.

“I was in control of my competitors,” Gelana said. “I was always running at their pace.”

Twenty-three runners reached the halfway point at or near 1:13:13. Then the pace sped up. And finally only four runners were left contending for the three medals: Gelana, Jeptoo, Petrova Arkhipova and Keitany.

At the New York City Marathon last fall, Keitany ran courageously and recklessly, setting off at world record pace, only to fade to third. She ran a much more controlled race at the London Marathon in April, then cruised home over the final half in 67:44 to set a Kenyan marathon record of 2:18:37. But she was not at her best Sunday.

After falling, Gelana had remained cautious at ensuing water stops, fearing that if she went down again, she would not complete the race. Then with about one and half miles remaining, she made a surge toward the gold medal. Keitany could not answer with her back muscles having seized, according to Jeptoo, who had tried to help her teammate by bringing Keitany liquids during the race.

“Mary didn’t react,” Jeptoo said. “I knew she was having a problem. I tried to win any medal that would come.”