# Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 10,000 metres

The women's 10,000 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 15 August at the Beijing National Stadium. The race was won by Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, who set a new Olympic record time of 29:54.66.
The qualifying standards were 31:45.00 (A standard) and 32:20.00 (B standard).
The early part of the race was dominated by Lornah Kiplagat. But in the second half of the race, the contenders moved to the front, dominated by Elvan Abeylegesse, with the string of runners lined up behind her. Abeylegesse separated herself from the rest of the field, except for Tirunesh Dibaba, who marked her every step. Midway through the last lap, Dibaba pounced with a kick Abeylegesse couldn't answer. Almost a half a minute back, Shalane Flanagan was the best of the rest for bronze, with Linet Chepkwemoi Masai setting the World junior record a few steps behind her.
At the time Dibaba and Abeylegesse ran the second and third fastest of all time (the best having occurred also in Beijing, Junxia Wang's world record in 1993). A year after this race, Meselech Melkamu edged past these two for the second best of all time.
On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed that Abeylegesse had tested positive for a banned substance at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, and that her results from 2007 to 2009, including her Olympic silvers, had been expunged.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:
| World record | Wang Junxia (CHN) | 29:31.78 | Beijing, China | 8 September 1993 |
| Olympic record | Derartu Tulu (ETH) | 30:17.49 | Sydney, Australia | 30 September 2000 |
| World Leading | Shalane Flanagan (USA) | 30:34.49 | Palo Alto, United States | 4 May 2008 |
The following new Olympic record was set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | OR | WR |
| 15 August | Final | Tirunesh Dibaba | Ethiopia | 29:54.66 | OR | |
Both Tirunesh Dibaba and Elvan Abeylegesse completed the race in a time under the old Olympic record, recording the second and third fastest ever women's 10,000 metre times, making Dibaba the new Olympic record holder.

## Results

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Result | Notes |
| | Tirunesh Dibaba | Ethiopia | 29:54.66 | OR, AR |
| | Shalane Flanagan | United States | 30:22.22 | AR |
| | Linet Chepkwemoi Masai | Kenya | 30:26.50 | WJR, NR |
| 4 | Mariya Konovalova | Russia | 30:35.84 | PB |
| 5 | Lucy Kabuu Wangui | Kenya | 30:39.96 | PB |
| 6 | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 30:40.27 | SB |
| 7 | Kimberley Smith | New Zealand | 30:51.00 | |
| 8 | Kara Goucher | United States | 30:55.16 | PB |
| 9 | Kayoko Fukushi | Japan | 31:01.14 | SB |
| 10 | Joanne Pavey | Great Britain | 31:12.30 | PB |
| 11 | Sabrina Mockenhaupt | Germany | 31:14.21 | PB |
| 12 | Ejegayehu Dibaba | Ethiopia | 31:22.18 | |
| 13 | Hilda Kibet | Netherlands | 31:29.69 | |
| 14 | Zhang Yingying | China | 31:31.12 | SB |
| 15 | Yoko Shibui | Japan | 31:31:13 | |
| 16 | Penninah Arusei | Kenya | 31:39.87 | |
| 17 | Tatyana Khmeleva-Aryasova | Russia | 31:45.57 | |
| 18 | Yukiko Akaba | Japan | 32:00.37 | |
| 19 | Bai Xue | China | 32:20.27 | |
| 20 | Anikó Kálovics | Hungary | 32:24.83 | |
| 21 | Kate Reed | Great Britain | 32:26.69 | |
| 22 | Nathalie De Vos | Belgium | 32:33.45 | SB |
| 23 | Preeja Sreedharan | India | 32:34.64 | |
| 24 | Amy Yoder Begley | United States | 32:38.28 | |
| 25 | Dulce María Rodríguez | Mexico | 32:58.04 | |
| 26 | Dong Xiaoqin | China | 33:03.14 | |
| 27 | Isabel Checa | Spain | 33:17.88 | |
| | Mestawet Tufa | Ethiopia | DNF | |
| | Asmae Leghzaoui | Morocco | DNF | |
| | Nataliya Berkut | Ukraine | DNS | |
| DSQ | Elvan Abeylegesse | Turkey | 29:56.34. | Doping Violation |
| DSQ | Inga Abitova | Russia | 30:37.33 | Doping Violation |
* AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
* DNS = did not start | DQ = disqualification | NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result) | Q = qualification by place in heat | q = qualification by overall place

### Splits

| Intermediate | Athlete | Country | Mark |
| 1000m | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 3:00.46 |
| 2000m | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 6:00.15 |
| 3000m | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 9:03.83 |
| 4000m | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 12:06.60 |
| 5000m | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 15:09.98 |
| 6000m | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 18:12.85 |
| 7000m | Elvan Abeylegesse | Turkey | 21:14.46 |
| 8000m | Elvan Abeylegesse | Turkey | 24:09.40 |
| 9000m | Elvan Abeylegesse | Turkey | 27:06.02 |