Beijing – Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana put on a brilliant display of front-running to win the women’s 5 000m at the world championships on Sunday and deprive compatriot Genzebe Dibaba of an unprecedented double gold.
The 23-year-old broke for home with four laps to go and clocked a championship record 14 minutes 26.83 seconds to win by more than 17 seconds, leading home an Ethiopian podium sweep.
Dibaba, who was hoping to become the first woman to win both the 1 500m and 5 000m at the same world championships or Olympics, was pipped at the line by compatriot Senbere Teferi, who took silver in 14.44.07.
To add insult to injury, the championship record Ayana bettered was set by bronze medallist Dibaba’s sister Tirunesh at the 2005 world championships.
– REUTERS