The women's 10,000 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre Budapest on 19 August 2023
Summary On social media, Sifan Hassan posted the answer to the obvious question; Why is she attempting the triple?
Day one was the first step. At 1:15 p.m., Hassan's first heat of the 1500 was scheduled. That race was postponed an hour, shortening her rest time before this race, scheduled at 8:55 p.m. Meanwhile, her competitors were rested and focused on this one race, anticipating Hassan's kick as a factor they needed to beat. Defending champion Letesenbet Gidey succeeded last year, winning by hundredths of a second as all the medalists held off Hassan.
The race started off slowly, Natosha Rogers relegated to the lead for three laps before handing the duty off to Camilla Richardsson who held it for the next eleven laps. Hassan took an even slower approach, dropping to dead last.
With eleven laps to go, Agnes Jebet Ngetich led the Kenyan team to the front, with the Ethiopian contingent marking the move, then Gudaf Tsegay took them forward. As the pace quickened, slower athletes fell off the pace, but Hassan was always at the back of the group still in contact with the lead. Gidey took her turn in the lead, then Ejgayehu Taye took them to three laps to go. Grace Nawowuna burned the next lap breaking the lead group down to ten. The Ethiopians asserted themselves into Tsegay and Gidey leading most of the penultimate lap. They continued to accelerate through the bell, with Hassan running around the field from tenth to first during the penultimate turn. Down the backstretch and through the final turn only the Ethiopians were able to chase. Hassan looked back to see she had the edge on Gidey but Tsegay would not go away. Hassan had a one-metre lead at the start of the home stretch, but Tsegay kept edging closer. Hassan drifted out into lane 2, making Tsegay's path longer, suddenly, 20 metres from home, Hassan's legs went out from under her and she fell to the track. Tsegay continued on to victory. 7 metres back, Gidey held off Taye to complete the medals and a sweep for Ethiopia. Hassan got up and walked on to the finish. Gidey walked back to give her a high five and a hug as she crossed the finish in eleventh place.
Records Before the competition records were as follows:
RecordAthlete & LocationDate World record29:01.03Hengelo, Netherlands8 June 2021Championship record30:04.18Saint-Denis, France23 August 2003World Leading 29:29.73 Nerja, Spain23 June 2023African Record29:01.03Hengelo, Netherlands8 June 2021Asian Record29:31.78Beijing, China8 September 1993North, Central American and Caribbean record30:03.82 San Juan Capistrano, United States4 March 2023South American Record31:47.76Stuttgart, Germany21 August 1993European Record29:06.82Hengelo, Netherlands6 June 2021Oceanian record30:35.54Palo Alto, United States4 May 2008
Qualification standard The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 30:40.00.
Schedule The event schedule, in local time (CEST), was as follows:
Date Time Round19 August 20:55 Final
Results The final was started on 19 August at 20:59.
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Gudaf Tsegay 31:27.18 Letesenbet Gidey 31:28.16 Ejgayehu Taye 31:28.31 4 Irine Jepchumba Kimais 31:32.19 5 Alicia Monson 31:32.29 6 Agnes Jebet Ngetich 31:34.83 7 Ririka Hironaka 31:35.12 8 Jessica Warner-Judd 31:35.38 9 Grace Nawowuna 31:38.17 10 Sarah Chelangat 31:40.04 11 Sifan Hassan 31:53.35 12 Elise Cranny 31:57.51 13 Diane van Es 32:05.85 14 Natosha Rogers 32:08.05 15 Camilla Richardsson 32:15.74 16 Stella Chesang 32:38.90 17 Lemlem Hailu 32:42.78 18 Sarah Lahti 33:09.22 19 Luz Mery Rojas 33:19.61 20 33:20.38 21 Maria Lucineida da Silva 35:54.18 Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui
References