The women's 10,000 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at Olympic Stadium on 3 August.
The race started off conservatively, led by the three Japanese runners, trailed by Britton who broke away to a 15-meter lead 800 metres into the race, though the peloton reeled that in. After the first 8 laps, the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners moved to the front as other runners dropped off the back, one by one. The field whittled itself down to just the three Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes, trailed by Eshete (Ethiopian born, running for Bahrain). Eshete would set the Bahrain national record in this race. With 7 laps to go, Chepkirui dropped out. In that same move Oljira and Eshete lost a step of contact and were separated from the field. Led by Kidane pushing the pace, it turned into a dual meet. With three laps to go, Kipyego edged into the lead with her move covered by the defending champion Dibaba. World champion Cheruiyot trailed but didn't look like she had the power to push ahead. In the turn with under 600 metres to go, Dibaba put the hammer down, passing Kipyego decisively and charging away. The last lap was a victory sprint for Dibaba with no challenger in sight.
Competition format Only a final, without preliminary heats, was held.
Schedule All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1) Date Time RoundFriday, 3 August 2012 21:25Finals
Records , the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record29:31.78Beijing, China8 September 1993Olympic record29:54.66Beijing, China15 August 20082012 World leading30:24.39Eugene, OR, United States1 June 2012Broken records during the 2012 Summer Olympics2012 World leading30:20.75London, United Kingdom3 August 2012
Results Official Photofinish 3 August 2012.Final Results . Track & Field: Results & Schedules. Retrieved on 2012-08-3.
Rank Name Nationality Time NotesLane Tirunesh Dibaba 30:20.75 WL16 Sally Kipyego 30:26.37 PB8 Vivian Cheruiyot 30:30.44 PB 11 Werknesh Kidane 30:39.38 SB4 Beleynesh Oljira 30:45.56 7 Shitaye Eshete 30:47.25 NR19 Joanne Pavey 30:53.20 PB1 Julia Bleasdale 30:55.63 PB21 Hitomi Niiya 30:59.19 PB3 10 Kayoko Fukushi 31:10.35 SB20 11 Amy Hastings 31:10.69 PB10 12 Janet Cherobon-Bawcom 31:12.68 PB22 13 Lisa Uhl 31:12.80 PB9 14 Sara Moreira 31:16.44 PB6 15 Fionnuala Britton 31:46.71 18 16 Mika Yoshikawa 31:47.67 14 17 Sabrina Mockenhaupt 31:50.35 2 18 Nadia Ejjafini 31:57.03 17 19 Olha Skrypak 32:14.59 13 20 Eloise Wellings 32:25.43 15 DNF Joyce Chepkirui N/A 12 DSQ Elizaveta Grechishnikova 32:11.32 Doping5 Elizaveta Grechishnikova of Russia originally finished 19th but was later disqualified for doping
References