Ethiopian reigning Olympic Champion, [link id=”249″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Tirunesh Dibaba”], won her third World 10,000m title at the [link id=”144″ tax=”post_tag” text=”14th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow” target=”_blank”] on Sunday.
Displaying her trademark kick, the 27-year-old sped away from the field at the bell with an effortless 59.96 seconds last lap to regained the title she last won in 2007 in 30:43.35.
With this victory, Dibaba achieved her fifth career World title after winning the 5,000m in 2003 and 2005, and stretched her unbeaten streak in the 10,000m to 11 races within the period when she also won two Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012.
Kenya’s Gladys Cherono, the 2012 African champion, was second in 30:45.17 and Ethiopian Belaynesh Oljira took bronze in 30:46.98 ahead of Kenyan Emily Chebet, who set a lifetime best 30:47.02 in fourth place.
Asked if she felt any pressure coming into the race, Dibaba said: “No, I was not anxious at all, I did not feel any pressure.”
“I have competed at the World Championships many times and this is my fifth gold medal. I am not disappointed that I will not run the double because we have some many talents in our federation, young talents, and they need their chance too.
“My sister did her heats this morning and she wanted to watch me in the stadium tonight, but I refused and told her to watch it in the hotel because she needs some rest.”
“I have not yet decided if I will watch her her or if I will fly home. The pace from the Japanese girl was good. If her pace had been slower than 74s we would have gone in front,” she added.
Ugandan Juliet Chekwel, who finished in 16th place, slashed almost a minute off her personal best to set a new national record of 32:57.02 in the race. She set the old mark of 33:50.75 at her first ever 10,000m race at the National trials in Namboole last month.
Okagbare Denied
[link id=”158″ tax=”post_tag” text=”Blessing Okagbare” target=”_blank”] got [link id=”5″ tax=”category” text=”Nigeria” target=”_blank”] her first medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow after losing out on Gold by just two centimetres in the women’s Long Jump to American Brittney Reese.
Reese, the reigning Olympic champion, won with her 2nd round jump of 7.01m (+0.2), edging Okagbare’s opening round lead of 6.89m (+0.2).
The powerful Nigerian improved to 6.99m in her fourth attempt to take the Silver medal and Ivana Spanovic sets a Serbian record of 6.82m (+0.1) to take the Bronze medal.
Okagbare thus became the first African woman to win a World Championships medal in the long jump event.
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