# 2017 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 10,000 metres

The women's 10,000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Stadium on 5 August. The winning margin was a huge 46.37 seconds. As of 2024, this is the only time the women's 10,000 metres has been won by more than 30 seconds at these championships.

## Summary

2015 champion Vivian Cheruiyot from Kenya was absent, having retired from track races. Three-time world champion Tirunesh Dibaba from Ethiopia ran, although she had planned initially to run the marathon instead. Almaz Ayana, also from Ethiopia and the world record holder from the 2016 Summer Olympics, ran her first race of the year.
The race began at a leisurely pace, with Ayana hovering near the front, just behind a succession of leaders. After 4000 metres in just over 13 minutes, Ayana led by 0.24 seconds. She then broke open the race with a 2:49.18 1000 metres, which was her quickest of the race, and extended her lead to 5.96 seconds at the halfway mark, with Yasemin Can from Turkey in second place. Her lead at 6000 metres grew to 16.84 seconds. Her 46:37 second margin of victory was the largest ever in a women's 10,000 metres at the World Championships. Her final 5000 meters was run in 14:24.94, which only seven women had bettered in a 5000 metres race.
The race for the silver medal was competitive among Dibaba, Alice Aprot Nawowuna, and Agnes Jebet Tirop. Dibaba, however, ran a fast 2:49.98 last 1000 metres, averaging 68 seconds per 400 metres, to clinch the silver.

## Records

Before the competition, the records were as follows:
| Record | Perf. | Athlete | Nat. | Date | Location |
| World | 29:17.45 | Almaz Ayana | ETH | 12 Aug 2016 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| World Championships | 30:04.18 | Berhane Adere | ETH | 23 Aug 2003 | Paris, France |
| World leading in 2017 | 30:40.87 | Gelete Burka | ETH | 10 Jun 2017 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| African | 29:17.45 | Almaz Ayana | ETH | 12 Aug 2016 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Asian | 29:31.78 | Junxia Wang | CHN | 8 Sep 1993 | Beijing, China |
| North, Central American and Caribbean | 30:13.17 | Molly Huddle | USA | 12 Aug 2016 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| South American | 31:47.76 | Carmem de Oliveira | BRA | 21 Aug 1993 | Stuttgart, Germany |
| European | 29:56.34 | Elvan Abeylegesse | TUR | 15 Aug 2008 | Beijing, China |
| Oceanian | 30:35.54 | Kim Smith | NZL | 4 May 2008 | Palo Alto, United States |
The following records were set in the race:
| Record | Time | Athlete | Nationality |
| World leading in 2017 | 30:16.32 | Almaz Ayana | ETH |
| Uzbekistan | 31:57.42 | Sitora Hamidova | UZB |
| Paraguay | 33:18.22 | Carmen Martínez | PAR |

## Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 32:15.00.

## Results

The final took place on 5 August. The results were as follows(photo finish):
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Almaz Ayana | Ethiopia (ETH) | 30:16.32 | WL |
| | Tirunesh Dibaba | Ethiopia (ETH) | 31:02.69 | SB |
| | Agnes Jebet Tirop | Kenya (KEN) | 31:03.50 | PB |
| 4 | Alice Aprot Nawowuna | Kenya (KEN) | 31:11.86 | SB |
| 5 | Susan Krumins | Netherlands (NED) | 31:20.24 | PB |
| 6 | Emily Infeld | United States (USA) | 31:20.45 | PB |
| 7 | Irene Chepet Cheptai | Kenya (KEN) | 31:21.11 | SB |
| 8 | Molly Huddle | United States (USA) | 31:24.78 | |
| 9 | Emily Sisson | United States (USA) | 31:26.36 | |
| 10 | Ayuko Suzuki | Japan (JPN) | 31:27.30 | SB |
| 11 | Yasemin Can | Turkey (TUR) | 31:35.48 | |
| 12 | Shitaye Eshete | Bahrain (BHR) | 31:38.66 | SB |
| 13 | Mercyline Chelangat | Uganda (UGA) | 31:40.48 | NR |
| 14 | Dera Dida | Ethiopia (ETH) | 31:51.75 | |
| 15 | Desi Mokonin | Bahrain (BHR) | 31:55.34 | |
| 16 | Natasha Wodak | Canada (CAN) | 31:55.47 | SB |
| 17 | Darya Maslova | Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) | 31:57.23 | SB |
| 18 | Sitora Hamidova | Uzbekistan (UZB) | 31:57.42 | NR |
| 19 | Mizuki Matsuda | Japan (JPN) | 31:59.54 | |
| 20 | Rachel Cliff | Canada (CAN) | 32:00.03 | PB |
| 21 | Beth Potter | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 32:15.88 | |
| 22 | Eloise Wellings | Australia (AUS) | 32:26.31 | SB |
| 23 | Failuna Abdi Matanga | Tanzania (TAN) | 32:29.97 | |
| 24 | Miyuki Uehara | Japan (JPN) | 32:31.58 | |
| 25 | Salome Nyirarukundo | Rwanda (RWA) | 32:45.95 | SB |
| 26 | Madeline Hills | Australia (AUS) | 32:48.57 | |
| 27 | Charlotte Taylor | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 32:51.33 | |
| 28 | Carla Salomé Rocha | Portugal (POR) | 32:52.71 | |
| 29 | Margarita Hernández | Mexico (MEX) | 33:06.53 | |
| 30 | Camille Buscomb | New Zealand (NZL) | 33:07.53 | |
| 31 | Carmen Martínez | Paraguay (PAR) | 33:18.22 | NR |
| | Sarah Lahti | Sweden (SWE) | DNF | |
| | Jess Martin | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | DNF | |

### Split times

The split times of the top four finishers were as follows:
| Distance | Almaz Ayana | Almaz Ayana | Almaz Ayana | Tirunesh Dibaba | Tirunesh Dibaba | Tirunesh Dibaba | Agnes Jebet Tirop | Agnes Jebet Tirop | Agnes Jebet Tirop | Alice Aprot Nawowuna | Alice Aprot Nawowuna | Alice Aprot Nawowuna |
| Distance | Pos | Split | Total | Pos | Split | Total | Pos | Split | Total | Pos | Split | Total |
| 1000 m | 6 | 3:30.38 | 3:30.38 | 20 | 3:31.43 | 3:31.43 | 10 | 3:30.64 | 3:30.64 | 4 | 3:30.33 | 3:30.33 |
| 2000 m | 2 | 3:18.49 | 6:48.87 | 17 | 3:18.88 | 6:50.31 | 9 | 3:19.09 | 6:49.73 | 4 | 3:18.87 | 6:49.19 |
| 3000 m | 2 | 3:10.60 | 9:59.47 | 3 | 3:09.37 | 9:59.68 | 10 | 3:10.46 | 10:00.19 | 4 | 3:10.59 | 9:59.78 |
| 4000 m | 1 | 3:02.73 | 13:02.20 | 6 | 3:04.66 | 13:04.34 | 3 | 3:03.02 | 13:03.21 | 4 | 3:03.67 | 13:03.45 |
| 5000 m | 1 | 2:49.18 | 15:51.38 | 6 | 2:56.30 | 16:00.64 | 5 | 2:57.03 | 16:00.24 | 3 | 2:55.45 | 15:59.79 |
| 6000 m | 1 | 2:51.59 | 18:42.97 | 6 | 2:59.86 | 19:00.50 | 4 | 2:59.82 | 19:00.06 | 2 | 3:00.02 | 18:59.81 |
| 7000 m | 1 | 2:52.22 | 21:35.19 | 4 | 3:02.10 | 22:02.60 | 3 | 3:02.30 | 22:02.36 | 2 | 3:02.35 | 22:02.16 |
| 8000 m | 1 | 2:54.84 | 24:30.03 | 5 | 3:05.70 | 25:08.30 | 3 | 3:05.62 | 25:07.98 | 2 | 3:05.57 | 25:07.73 |
| 9000 m | 1 | 2:56.80 | 27:26.83 | 4 | 3:04.41 | 28:12.71 | 2 | 3:04.20 | 28:12.18 | 3 | 3:04.70 | 28:12.43 |
| 10,000 m | 1 | 2:49.49 | 30:16.32 | 2 | 2:49.98 | 31:02.69 | 3 | 2:51.32 | 31:03.50 | 4 | 2:59.43 | 31:11.86 |