The Women's 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27.

Kenya entered a strong team including the 2009 champion Linet Masai, the reigning 5000 metres world champion Vivian Cheruiyot, and Sally Kipyego – the fastest 10,000 m runner that year. The next strongest competitors were the Ethiopian women, which included the 2009 runner-up Meselech Melkamu and Meseret Defar. The United States was represented by 2007 World bronze medallist Kara Goucher and 2008 Olympic third placer Shalane Flanagan (who was the second fastest that year).Johnson, Len (2011-08-22). Women's 10,000m - PREVIEW . IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-24.

An American trio of Goucher, Flanagan and Jen Rhines set the pace in the initial stages of the competition. After around 3000 metres, the Kenyan and Ethiopian teams asserted themselves and it was only Flanagan and Shitaye Eshete who maintained the positions with them. The leading pack reached the halfway point in 15:47.04 minutes and the pace became increasingly quicker at this point – a fact which saw Tigist Kiros fall away from the pack. Flanagan and Eshete were the next to trail away, then Meseret Defar dropped out entirely with stomach pains, reducing the leading pack to the four Kenyans (Masai, Cheruiyot, Kipyego and Priscah Jepleting Cherono) and Meselech Melkamu. In the final lap, it was Cheruiyot and Kipyego who surged away into the lead. Cheruiyot held off her compatriot near the finish line to win the gold with a personal best of 30:48.98 minutes in what was only her third ever race over the distance. Kipyego took second, while Masai had a late run to take the bronze for a Kenyan sweep of the medals. Cherono was the fourth woman across the line and Meselech took fifth.Johnson, Len (2011-08-27). Women's 10,000m Final - Cheruiyot leads Kenyan 1-2-3-4 (!) finish . IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-28.Mulkeen, Jon (2011-08-27). Cheruiyot wins 10,000m as Kenya dominate once more . Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2011-08-28. Eshete ran a Bahraini record of 31:21.57 minutes for sixth.

Kenya became only the third country to have its athletes take positions one through four in an event (the other two being Ethiopia in the women's 5000 metres and the United States in the men's 200 metres, both at 2005 World Championships). The podium sweep was also unique in that it was the first time any nation had won all the medals on one day of the championships, as Kenyan women had taken all three medals in the women's marathon (the only other final of the first day).

Medalists GoldSilverBronzeVivian CheruiyotSally KipyegoLinet Masai

Records Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:

World record29:31.78Beijing, China8 September 1993Championship record30:04.18Paris, France23 August 2003World Leading30:38.35Palo Alto, CA, United States29 May 2011African record29:53.80Utrecht, Netherlands14 June 2009Asian record29:31.78Beijing, China8 September 1993North, Central American and Caribbean record30:22.22Beijing, China15 August 2008South American record31:16.56São Paulo, Brazil3 August 2011European record29:56.34Beijing, China15 August 2008Oceanian record30:35.54Palo Alto, CA, United States4 May 2008

Qualification standards A timeB time 31:45.00 32:00.00

Schedule Date Time RoundAugust 27, 2011 21:00 Final

Results KEY:qFastest non-qualifiersQQualifiedNRNational recordPBPersonal bestSBSeasonal best

Final

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Vivian Cheruiyot 30:48.98 PB Sally Kipyego 30:50.04 Linet Masai 30:53.59 SB Priscah Jepleting Cherono 30:56.43 PB Meselech Melkamu 30:56.55 SB Shitaye Eshete 31:21.57 NR Shalane Flanagan 31:25.57 Ana Dulce Félix 31:37.03 Jennifer Rhines 31:47.59 10 Jessica Augusto 32:06.68 SB 11 Tigist Kiros 32:11.37 12 Christelle Daunay 32:22.20 13 Kara Goucher 32:29.58 14 Hikari Yoshimoto 32:32.22 15 Kayo Sugihara 32:53.89 16 Krisztina Papp 32:56.02 17 Megumi Kinukawa 34:08.37 SB Meseret Defar Eloise Wellings

References

External links 10,000 metres results at IAAF website