Kenya settles for 10,000m bronze after Hassan stunner

Kenya settles for 10,000m bronze after Hassan stunner

Sifan Hassan ran a blistering final lap to win the women’s 10,000m in 30:17.62 at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.

The Dutchwoman, running the distance for the second time, overtook Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey just before the bell and powered away over the last lap to win in a season’s best time of 30 minutes 17.63 seconds.

Gidey was second and Kenya’s Agnes Tirop third.

Gidey and the other Ethiopian runners enjoyed the backing of a small but noisy, flag-waving contingent of their compatriots in the crowd, but thousands of seats remained empty.

Hassan, who moved to the Netherlands after leaving Ethiopia as a refugee when she was 15, will also run either the 5,000 metres of 1,500 metres later in the competition.

Hellen Obiri faded away in the final two laps after Gidey had made a dash to the lead and ended up fifth, just behind Rosemary Wanjiru. The Kenyan trio had a tactical plan, exchanging leads early on but it failed to break Hassan who did well to cover their moves before exploding for victory.

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Hellen Obiri Letesenbet Gidey Sifan Hassan Agnes Tirop IAAF World Championships

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