Ayana beats Wang’s 1993 world mark
Print Edition
ETHIOPIA’S Almaz Ayana smashed the world record to win the Olympic 10,000 meters title yesterday, blowing away the competition in one of the greatest ever long-distance races at the Games.
In only her second competitive 10,000-meter race, Ayana dominated from the start in Rio and halfway through the race she surged away from the leading pack, injecting staggering pace to finish in 29 minutes 17.45 seconds.
Her time was 14 seconds inside the 29:31.78 set by China’s Wang Junxia in 1993.
It was the first time in seven years that a female athlete had run 10,000 in under 30 minutes and the first four all achieved the feat. The first 13 women across the line clocked personal bests, including five national records.
Kenya’s world 10,000 champion Vivian Cheruiyot tried in vain to keep up with Ayana but had to settle for silver while Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba, the defending Olympic champion, grabbed bronze.
All three women ran inside the old Olympic 10,000 record.
Cheruiyot, Kenya’s most decorated female athlete, also fell short at the 2012 London Games where she took bronze, meaning the east African country’s wait for its first women’s 10,000 gold medalist continues.
The 31-year-old Dibaba, who returned in 2016 from a two-year layoff following the birth of her son, was seeking to become the first woman in Olympic history to win an individual athletics event three times in a row.
Ayana will now turn her attention to her preferred 5,000, in which she is favorite to win.
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