Dibaba adds another gold medal to her collection
|
Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba made it an Olympic double after winning the 5,000m on Friday in the Bird's Nest.
A week after winning the 10,000m, Dibaba sprinted to victory ahead of Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse and defending champion Meseret Defar.
After a sluggish start with nobody willing to push the pace, Dibaba took the lead with two laps remaining to finish with a time of 15:41.40 secs.
It is the first time a female runner has won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles.
Kenya's world silver medallist Vivian Cheruiyot was the first to lead the way, with Dibaba, 23, Defar and team-mate Meselech Melkamu happy to sit at the back.
It was then the turn of Russia's Guinara Galkina-Samitova, who set a world record to win the 3,000m steeplechase on Sunday, to turn on the power.
 |
I will remember the Beijing Games forever because I won two gold medals here
|
The Russian looked strong at the 3,000m mark, with Defar then lucky to escape a fall after being spiked by Melkamu.
Dibaba then produced a dazzling finish in the 12-and-a-half lap race to claim the first long-distance running double in 28 years.
"I am very happy," the new Olympic champion said. "I like Beijing very much. I will remember the Beijing Games forever because I won two gold medals here.
"It was quite slow out there. I tried to accelerate three laps before the finish. It's a big achievement for me.
"When I came from my country, I didn't think I'd win both titles. I just thought I'd be a good competitor in both events."
|
~RS~a~RS~International~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~52~RS~){kind=small}
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~52~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Bookmark with:
What are these?