Kenya’s Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot stunned the world 10,000m record-holder Almaz Ayana to win her first Olympic gold medal in the women’s 5000m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Friday night
Vivian Cheruiyot, 32, blasted past a tiring pre-race favourite, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, in the penultimate lap to scorch to victory in the final, crossing the line in a new Olympic record of 14:26.17.
Cheruiyot’s Kenyan compatriot Hellen Onsando Obiri, 26, took the silver medal in 14:29.77.
Almaz, 24, shattered the world record to win the women’s 10,000m in Rio 2016 last week and had been expected to complete the 10,000m and 5,000m double here in Rio, but had to settle for bronze in 14:33.59.
“I’m so happy for me, my husband (Her coach, Moses Kiplagat), my son, my parents,” said Cheruiyot after the race. “This might be the last Olympics for me.
“Almaz is such a great athlete, we thought she would win again. She got ahead but then I thought, ‘She’s not moving’. I was working and I went past her.
“It was my fourth Olympic Games and I had not had gold. Almaz can go fast for 400m, then slow it down. Today I said, ‘I am going to follow her. I am not going to lose her’.”
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