Bronze for Kenya as dazzling Ayana leads Ethiopian 1-2

Gold medallist Almaz Ayana runs with Ethiopia’s national flag after the women’s 10,000m at the Olympic Stadium in Rio on August 12, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 5- Agnes Tirop, the 2015 World Cross Country champion picked up bronze as Olympic Champion and World Record holder Almaz Ayana produced yet another dazzling run to lead a 1-2 Ethiopian finish in the women’s 10,000m at the London World Championships on Saturday.

Just like she did in Rio, Ayana who has not raced this season tore the field apart, moving away from the pack with as many as 16 laps left on the field and she sustained the tempo, lapping fellow athletes on her way to the gold medal.

She crossed the finish line in 30:16.33. Her winning margin of 46.37 was by far the biggest in championship history.

Three-time champion Tirunesh Dibaba showed signs of her trademark devastating kick, pulling away from the Kenyan duo of Tirop and African 10,000m champion Alice Aprot to pick silver.

After pulling off from the crowd same way she did in Rio de Janeiro last year, it was a race between Ayana and the clock.

The chasing duties were left to the Kenyan trio of Aprot, Tirop and reigning World Cross Country Champion Irene Cheptai as well as Dibaba and Kenyan-turned Turk Yasemin Can. The Turk could however not sustain the tempo and she soon dropped out.

The three Kenyans stuck together running side by side with Dibaba lurking just beside them, waiting for the opportune time to strike with her finishing kick.

With two laps to go and Ayana enjoying a lead of close to 300m, it was a race for silver and bronze between Kenya and Ethiopia. Cheptai dropped off at the bell leaving Tirop and Aprot to battle Dibaba but at the home straight, the three-time champion bolted off.

Tirop dug deep into her energy reserves in a bid to wrestle for the silver medal, but there was no stopping Dibaba who was focused on stepping on the podium for the fourth time in the 10,000m in her World Championship career.

Kenya has now failed to defend one of the titles that led her to being crowned the world’s best in Beijing two years back with Vivian Cheruiyot, now a road runner having won the race ahead of Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka and USA’s Emily Infeld.

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