Ethiopian teen Tirunesh Dibaba is confident of sewing up a historic double after running a breathtaking final lap to win the women’s 10 000m world title here at the World Athletics Championships.
The 19-year-old, who was the youngest ever world champion over the 5 000m in Paris 2003, will attempt to become the first woman to win the two races when she competes in the 5km event later this week.
On Saturday Dibaba, whose first name means ”you are good” in Amharic, was in imperious form, clocking a devastating 27 seconds final 200m to kill off the field.
She came home in 30:24.02 ahead of 2003 champion Berhane Adere, who clocked 30:25.41 while the victor’s elder sister Ejagayou Dibaba was third in 30:26.00.
”I am very very happy,” she beamed. ”It was a great race and a little hard with a very quick last lap.
”Realistically, though, the only other runners we feared were Edith Masai and the other Ethiopian runner [Worknesh Kidane].”
Dibaba revealed that she and her three compatriots had devised a set of ruthless tactics in a bid to seal all the podium finishes.
”We had a plan and that was to run a very fast last lap to take the top three positions,” she said.
”We didn’t speak about when to go exactly but we all knew we had to go as the bell went for the final lap.”
Dibaba added that the Ethiopians had been helped by the race tactics of Briton Paula Radcliffe, who finished ninth in an event she said was preparation for next week’s marathon.
”She led a great deal and that definitely helped us,” Dibaba said to stifled guffaws from Adere and her sister sat alongside her at the post-race press conference.
”I don’t have much experience at the 10 000m and I expected it to be quicker time than that. I want to run as fast as possible in the 5 000m and, God willing, run to a medal.
”I chose to run both races because I can win them both. I am ready to make history in Helsinki.”
Dibaba’s unlikely victory in Paris two years ago, along with Kenenisa Bekele in the men’s 10,000m, heralded the beginning of a new era in distance running with the upstaging of Haile Gebrselassie and (Dibaba’s cousin) Derartu Tulu, the previous king and queen of Ethiopian athletics.
After an inconsistent 2004 during which she struggled to find her pace, Dibaba has rebounded to a streak of unbeatable form this year.
She smashed the world 5 000m indoor record in Boston, slicing nearly seven seconds off Adere’s previous mark.
She followed that up by destroying a host of fellow East African runners on her way to a short and long course double at the World Cross Country Championships in France in March.
In doing so, she became the first woman, after Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan, to win a World Cross double since the competition was introduced in 1998. – Sapa-AFP