Tirunesh Dibaba dominates 10,000M run.....

The dash - the spring - 100M occupies the centrestage everywhere… here is something on a race 100 times longer !!!!  ~ you may not recognize her instantly……

After IPL and Champions trophy, it was tour of West Indies, Zimbabwe and now India A is playing Australian A and SA – A…. Ashes are going on….. and there is also the 14th  World Championships in Athletics are held in Moscow, Russia from 10–18 August 2013.  The venue was selected way back in Dec 2006 when Gothenburg backed out citing lack of financial support of the Swedish government.

He has imperiously dominated the sprint - Usain Bolt has been in front page of magazines after reclaiming the 100—meter world championship gold he lost through a false start in South Korea two years ago, the Olympic champion once again holds every major sprint title there is.   Bolt's time of 9.77sec was his slowest in a major 100m final. But it was still a half-metre too good for Justin Gatlin, the American with the Florida swagger and doping past. He took silver in 9.85sec with Bolt's fellow countryman Nesta Carter taking bronze in 9.95 sec.

Athletics is not all about Bolt or the 100M dash…… in another ~ the long distance this time, Tirunesh Dibaba also made a golden start in her quest for a long—distance double. The Ethiopian confirmed herself as one of the greatest long—distance runners in history, right up there with former teammates Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele. With three Olympic titles and five world championships since 2003, her pedigree is unmatched. And Sunday’s race was easy for the champion. She was tucked in the wake of Japanese runner Hitomi Niiya for most of the race and let her finishing kick take care of the rest with 500 meters to go.

Tirunesh Dibaba regained her IAAF World Championships 10,000m title after a six year hiatus with a blistering 59.96 last lap to shake off all challengers and win her third title in 30:43.35. The victory in the Russian capital also maintained Dibaba’s unbeaten streak over 25 laps of the track: 11 races started, 11 races won, a record that also includes two Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012.

Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene (born1985) is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder. She is the current World and Olympic 10,000 metres champion. She has won in total five world track titles and five world cross country titles. She is nicknamed the "Baby Faced Destroyer."  In 1985, Tirunesh Dibaba was born in Chefa, a small regional town in Arsi zone of the Oromiya regional state, 260kms southwest of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Tirunesh was the third child in a family of five. Her upbringing was no different to other Ethiopian athletes, who start running from their home town to school. Dibaba is part of an athletic family, with older sister Ejegayehu Dibaba winning the silver medal in the 10,000m at the 2004 Summer Olympics and brother Dejene marked as a future star. Their sister Genzebe won the junior race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships.

Dibaba created a new 5000 metres world record, 14 minutes 11.15 seconds, at the Oslo Golden League 2008 meeting.  At Moscow, Dibaba clocked 30min 43.37sec, with Gladys Cherono of Kenya taking silver (30:45.17), and Ethiopia's Belaynesh Oljira claiming bronze (30:46.98). Dibaba can rightly be lauded as queen of the 10km event, having also won two Olympic golds over the distance. The 27-year-old missed the Daegu worlds in 2011 because of injury but has never lost in her 10 outings over 25 laps of the track.

Lot more is happening on the tracks at Moscow….

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

12th Aug 2013.