In the first track & field final, Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana smashed the world record in the 10,000 meters by running 29:17.46 to win the gold medal at the Rio Olympics. The silver went to Vivian Cheruiyot in 29:32.53 and defending Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba earned the bronze with a time of 29:42.56. 

Fast early pace sets the tone

The race was destined to make history from the beginning as the competitors established a fast championship showdown from the gun. The early lead was held by Alice Aprot Nawowuna of Kenya, whose initial split was 3:01. The world junior bronze medalist still led the field through 2000 meters in 5:55 and was followed by the Ethiopian powerhouse duo of world champion Ayana and defending Olympic champion Dibaba. 

Nawowuna's front-running and lightning-fast early pace established an elite lead group early on, which included a stacked field of contenders. American Molly Huddle attempted to run with the lead group, but was unable to hold the pace and found herself running alone around 12 minutes into the race. Meanwhile, Nawowuna took the field through a blazing fast split of 14:46 at the 5000-meter mark.

Ayana quickens the pace even more, sets world record in victory

The pace was already on a record course, but Ayana established it even quicker as she bolted to the front just after the halfway mark. With nine laps remaining, Ayana found herself with a 20 meter lead on the field and no challengers remotely even close to her. The only woman who attempted to make a move was reigning world champion Cheruiyot who still trailed Ayana by a sizable amount. With 8,000 meters having been run, Ayana powered through in 23:25, considerably faster than the world record pace set by Wang Junxia of China in 1993. On her way to setting the world record of 29:31, Junxia ran 23:59 for 8,000 meters.

Just under six minutes later, Ayana would be in the record books with a world record of 29:17.46, 15 seconds faster than silver medalist Cheruiyot and 42 seconds faster than Junxia's long-standing mark. This was just the second 10,000-meter track race of her career and the 24-year-old's previous personal best was 30:07,00, and during the most recent Diamond League season where she nearly broke the half-hour mark on a few occasions. Ayana was the favorite after having shot to prominence at last year's World Athletics Championships and her gold medal total may increase as she has the 5,000 meters to come later on where she is also one of the favorites.

Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana waves to the crowd in Rio after she shattered the world record in the 10,000 meters to win the Olympic title/Photo: Associated Press
Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana waves to the crowd in Rio after she shattered the world record in the 10,000 meters to win the Olympic title/Photo: Associated Press
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About the author
John Lupo
I am a writer and photographer. I have two Instagrams: @lupojohn1 is my personal account while @dslr_transit_photos is my photography account as I do transit photography in my hometown of New York City.