RIO DE JANEIRO-Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana smashed the world record to win the Olympic 10,000 metres title on Friday, blowing away the competition in one of the greatest ever long-distance races at the Games.
Ayana ran boldly from the start and halfway through the race she surged away from the leading pack, injecting staggering pace to finish in 29 minutes 17.45 seconds. Her time was 14 seconds inside the 29:31.78 set by China's Wang Junxia in 1993.
Kenya's world 10,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot tried in vain to keep up with Ayana but had to settle for silver while Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba, the defending Olympic champion, grabbed bronze.
All three women ran inside the old Olympic 10,000m record.
