# 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 10,000 metres

The women's 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15 August. The Ethiopian team was particularly strong in the event, with two-time World Champion Tirunesh Dibaba, 5000 metres World Champion Meseret Defar, and African record holder Meselech Melkamu all vying for first place. The 2007 silver medallist Elvan Abeylegesse, Olympic bronze medallist Shalane Flanagan, and the World Cross Country Champion Florence Kiplagat were other athletes with strong medal possibilities.
The race featured a number of surprises and upsets, beginning with the withdrawal of the defending champion Dibaba due to a leg injury, replaced by Wude Ayalew. The race started awkwardly when the outer alley of the starting group, led by Florence Kiplagat, broke to the inside at the gun. Essentially Masai, Ayalew, Grace Momanyi and the other five runners on the outside who followed Kiplagat ran a course some 14 meters shorter than the twelve runners from the other larger alley. But confused officials did not recall the start or issue any disqualifications for the incident. Still, Inês Monteiro took the early lead with the outer runners falling in behind her. By the end of the first lap Yukari Sahaku and Yurika Nakamura had emerged as the pacesetters. After a kilometer, the Russian duo of Liliya Shobukhova and Mariya Konovalova took the lead. Konovalova held the point, marked by Nakamura at an even, leisurely pace for this crowd until just after eight laps to go when Linet Masai, who had been hanging around the back of the tight pack made a quick move to the front. All three Ethiopians rushed to mark the move. By the end of the lap, 2007 medallist Abeylegesse dropped out of the race and a quintet of runners ( Masai, Melkamu, Defar, Ayalew and Grace Momanyi) had broken away from the rest of the pack. Lap times dropped from the 75 second average to 71, to 69. But Masai's pace slowed back to 70 then 71. Momanyi came up to take the lead with the Ethiopians changing their focus though Ayalew was struggling to keep on the back behind Masai. After taking the break for a lap, Masai returned to take the lead. As the runners approached the finish line for the bell, favourites Defar and Melkamu sprinted in front. Defar held the lead through the final turn, with Melkamu boxing Masai, neither could completely break away. With clear running room coming off the turn, Masai tried to get her long legs going. She wasn't able to make much progress, nor could Melkamu pass her teammate until Defar began to fade, unable to maintain her speed. Melkamu took the lead. 14 meters out, Masai passed Melkamu. Perhaps not noticing, Melkamu prematurely celebrated but Masai was a meter ahead to take the gold medal with a tactically-timed run. Defar, completely exhausted, eventually finished in fifth as Ayalew sprinted past Momanyi to take the bronze.
Breaking a decade of Ethiopian dominance, nineteen-year-old Masai's gold medal was the first Kenyan victory in the event since the 1997 World Championships, and the country's first 10,000 m medal since 1999.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Linet Masai Kenya (KEN) | Meselech Melkamu Ethiopia (ETH) | Wude Ayalew Ethiopia (ETH) |

## Records

| World record | Wang Junxia (CHN) | 29:31.78 | Beijing, China | 8 September 1993 |
| Championship record | Berhane Adere (ETH) | 30:04.18 | Paris, France | 23 August 2003 |
| World Leading | Meselech Melkamu (ETH) | 29:53.80 | Utrecht, Netherlands | 14 June 2009 |
| African record | Meselech Melkamu (ETH) | 29:53.80 | Utrecht, Netherlands | 14 June 2009 |
| Asian record | Wang Junxia (CHN) | 29:31.78 | Beijing, China | 8 September 1993 |
| North American record | Shalane Flanagan (USA) | 30:22.22 | Beijing, China | 15 August 2008 |
| South American record | Carmem de Oliveira (BRA) | 31:47.76 | Stuttgart, Germany | 21 August 1993 |
| European record | Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR) | 29:56.34 | Beijing, China | 15 August 2008 |
| Oceanian record | Kim Smith (NZL) | 30:35.54 | Palo Alto, United States | 4 May 2008 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 31:45.00 | 32:20.00 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 15, 2009 | 19:25 | Final |

## Results

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Linet Masai | Kenya (KEN) | 30:51.24 | SB |
| | Meselech Melkamu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 30:51.34 | |
| | Wude Ayalew | Ethiopia (ETH) | 30:51.95 | |
| 4 | Grace Momanyi | Kenya (KEN) | 30:52.25 | PB |
| 5 | Meseret Defar | Ethiopia (ETH) | 30:52.37 | |
| 6 | Amy Yoder Begley | United States (USA) | 31:13.78 | PB |
| 7 | Yurika Nakamura | Japan (JPN) | 31:14.39 | PB |
| 8 | Kim Smith | New Zealand (NZL) | 31:21.42 | SB |
| 9 | Kayoko Fukushi | Japan (JPN) | 31:23.49 | SB |
| 10 | Inês Monteiro | Portugal (POR) | 31:25.67 | PB |
| 11 | Mariya Konovalova | Russia (RUS) | 31:26.94 | |
| 12 | Florence Jebet Kiplagat | Kenya (KEN) | 31:30.85 | |
| 13 | Ana Dulce Félix | Portugal (POR) | 31:30.90 | PB |
| 14 | Shalane Flanagan | United States (USA) | 31:32.19 | |
| 15 | Kseniya Agafonova | Russia (RUS) | 31:43.14 | |
| 16 | Ana Dias | Portugal (POR) | 31:49.91 | |
| 17 | Katie McGregor | United States (USA) | 32:18.49 | |
| 18 | Zhang Yingying | China (CHN) | 32:33.63 | SB |
| 19 | Liliya Shobukhova | Russia (RUS) | 32:42.36 | |
| 20 | Yukari Sahaku | Japan (JPN) | 33:41.17 | |
| | Elvan Abeylegesse | Turkey (TUR) | | DNF |
| | Olivera Jevtic | Serbia (SRB) | | DNS |
Key: PB = Personal best, SB = Seasonal best

### Splits

| Intermediate | Athlete | Country | Mark |
| 1000m | Yurika Nakamura | Japan | 3:08.85 |
| 2000m | Mariya Konovalova | Russia | 6:17.01 |
| 3000m | Liliya Shobukhova | Russia | 9:24.89 |
| 4000m | Mariya Konovalova | Russia | 12:35.29 |
| 5000m | Mariya Konovalova | Russia | 15:45.19 |
| 6000m | Mariya Konovalova | Russia | 18:55.45 |
| 7000m | Linet Chepkwemoi Masai | Kenya | 22:04.20 |
| 8000m | Linet Chepkwemoi Masai | Kenya | 25:00.18 |
| 9000m | Meseret Defar | Ethiopia | 27:58.29 |