She will be up against two-times New York champion Jelena Prokopcuka, Berlin marathon champion Gete Wami, 2007 world champion Catherine Ndereba and 2007 Boston marathon champion Lidiya Grigoryeva.

BBC: Radcliffe to make marathon return

Britain's men's team also contains five runners, but not trials winner Tomas Abyu (Salford Harriers), who declined automatic selection to focus on other racing commitments including the Berlin Marathon.

BBC: Paula Radcliffe

German runner Mikitenko missed Beijing through injury but followed up her return with victory in September's Berlin Marathon and last month was crowned the 2007-08 World Marathon Majors champion.

BBC: Radcliffe set for London return

In the men's marathon in central Berlin at the start of the day, Abel Kirui and Emmanuel Mutai secured a Kenyan one-two with Kirui clocking a championship-record time of two hours six minutes and 55 seconds after a blistering first half around the city.

BBC: Jamaica's Bolt takes third gold

Sammy Korir, who finished one second behind Tergat in Berlin to become the second fastest of all time, Chicago Marathon runner-up Daniel Njenga and fellow Kenyan Evans Rutto will also be in action.

BBC: Tergat confirms London bid