As the countdown for the Tokyo World Championship continues, we take a look at one of the rivalries at the competition in the women’s 5000m/10,000m race.
The women’s long-distance rivalry of the 2000s and early 2010s was shaped by Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, with Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot later joining the mix.
After winning the women’s 5000m at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, Dibaba made an emphatic statement in 2005.
In Helsinki, Dibaba first led an Ethiopian sweep in the 10,000m before returning a week later to headline the first-ever women’s 1-2-3-4 in World Championships history over 5000m.
Sitting patiently with the leaders for much of the 5000m final, she unleashed her kick at the bell with teammate Defar giving chase.
The pair battled to the line, but Dibaba prevailed in a championship record of 14:38.59, ahead of Defar (14:39.54) and Ejegayehu Dibaba (14:42.47).
She became the first woman to win the 5000m and 10,000m double at a single World Championships.
Two years later in Osaka, Tirunesh Dibaba successfully defended her 10,000m crown despite a fall. Defar, in world-record form, captured the 5000m title, while Cheruiyot took the bronze medal.
Injury kept Dibaba out of the 2009 Berlin and 2011 Daegu World Championships, where Cheruiyot seized control of the distance events. Cheruiyot beat Defar to 5000m gold in Berlin as Defar settled for bronze, then completed the 5000m and 10,000m double in Daegu, again with Defar third in the 5000m.
The London 2012 Olympics reshuffled the order again: Defar claimed 5000m gold ahead of Cheruiyot and Dibaba, while Dibaba retained her 10,000m title with Cheruiyot third.
At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, with Cheruiyot absent, Dibaba won her fifth world title in the 10,000m, and Defar took 5000m gold, keeping their rivalry alive in one of the sport’s most competitive eras.
