Eugene (United States) (AFP) - Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey upstaged Dutch star Sifan Hassan to win the women's 10,000m at the world championships in Oregon on Saturday.
Gidey, the world record holder over the distance, hit the last 400m of the 25-lap race at Eugene's Hayward Field in complete control and crossed the line with a savage dip in a winning time of 30min 09.54sec.
Kenya's Hellen Obiri took silver in 30:10.02, with her teammate Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi claiming bronze, just ahead of defending champion and Olympic gold medallist Hassan.
"This was the biggest aim I had," Gidey said."The dream came true.This victory is even more important to me than a world record, I am so happy about this performance.
"I was thinking about winning this gold since 2019.But Hassan was always there.I was also watching Obiri."
Gidey added: "This time, I was really watching them and I knew I had to be very fast in the last 300m.I managed to stay in front and kept the pace until the finish line.
"I have the next dream now - to win the gold at 5000m...I am very confident now."
Hassan hinted at being track rusty after taking a break to ease the mental pressure of a sustained training period.
"I trained so hard during almost three years from 2019 to 2021 to get all the medals I won that I really needed a break after the Tokyo Olympics," she said.
"I didn't even care about running.I took a big break for almost eight months, and then I started running again.
"My position was good during the race.I started sprinting on the last 200 metres and couldn't get a medal, but still I'm really happy with the result."
In overcast, warm conditions, Britain's Eilish McColgan, whose mother Liz won the event in the 1991 world championships, took up the early runing before Japan's Ririka Hironaka headed to the front of the pack.
Gidey in charge
The women averaged 73-second laps as they went through the 5km mark in 15:19.The pack remained bunched, poised for someone to take the pacing by the scruff of the neck.
McColgan found herself back in front, but not forcing the cadence and soon fell back.
The Ethiopian pair of Gidey and Ejgayehu Taye made a move with eight laps to run, Hassan content to sit back in the pack far from the pacesetters.
As the field started to string out, the pack was whittled down to nine wth four laps to go.
At the 800m mark, Taye led, two-time world 5000m champion Obiri, also a two-time Olympic silver medallist over 5km, on her shoulder.
The pace increased into the final lap, with Hassan, who produced a stunning 1500m-10,000m double at the 2019 world champs in Doha before winning 5000m and 10,000m gold and 1500m bronze at last year’s Olympics, left with a lot to do.
The Dutch runner made her move at 200 metres, her usual outside shoulder charge.
But Gidey, a silver medallist at the 2019 worlds and bronze medal winner at the Tokyo Games, responded and Hassan faltered in her wake.
Gidey was made to work to the line, however, under pressure from the fast-charging Obiri.
The drama was not complete as Kipkemboi produced a final surge to outsprint Hassan for the line to deprive the Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman a medal.
