Ennis-Hill, who is rounding back into form, holds the upper hand, having won the 2012 Olympic gold medal and world titles in 2009 and 2015.
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“I praise the lord, the lord gives me everything”, she said through an interpreter.
The first medal event of the track and field portion of the 2016 Olympics was not one to be missed as a World Record and an American Record were smashed.
With the stadium roaring her home, Ayana scorched home with a 68sec final lap to claim gold.
Sweden’s Sarah Lahti, who finished 12th, wondered how Anaya could post such a blistering time – 29:17.45, almost 15 seconds quicker than the previous world record – despite having little experience in the discipline; perhaps the world’s best in the 5,000, Anaya only recently began training for the longer race.
Virtually all of Russia’s track and field team have been excluded from the Rio Games following revelations of state-backed doping. “When I saw the world record set in 1993 I couldn’t believe what I was seeing”. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya took silver. The country’s Olympic committee has drawn the ire of World Anti-Doping Agency for its lax testing and been told by the International Association of Athletics Federation, track’s global governing body they face a possible ban if they don’t get better.
And she has her favored 5,000 to come. I can’t think about that during the race.
Huddle found herself hanging on to the back of the early pack of eight that separated themselves from the field, but after 4000m or so, she dropped back to run her own race. Emily Infeld finished 11th, and Marielle Hall was 33rd. “And Ayana has absolutely blitzed that time”.
Almaz Ayana has previously impressed with her performance at the Ethiopian Olympic Trial race in Hengelo.
Speaking after the race, Rimmer said he is determined to make the final, explaining: “It’d be a waste of a career if I don’t”.
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Ayana has a shot at a second gold medal here.
