London 2017: Ayana dominates women’s 10,000m in her first race since Rio

Despite having not run a 10,000m yet this year and no competitive race since Rio, few would have bet against world record holder Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia. It was less than a year ago that she set the record of 29:17.45 in a race that she led basically from start to end.

RELATED: Rio track recap: Why the day one morning session was jaw-dropping

Unstoppable

Almaz Ayana adds World Championship gold to her Olympic title and world record. The Ethiopian wins in 30:16.33#IAAFworlds pic.twitter.com/FhxoimPaTC

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 5, 2017

And today on the track in London, she did something similar winning the 10,000m final in 30:16.32, some 40 seconds ahead of her next competitor. Fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba was second in 31:02.69 with Kenyan Agnes Jebet Tirop in third in 31:03.50.

The race begin in rather slow fashion with the first kilometre run in 3:30 (35 minute 10K pace) with all competitors running in a large group. But Ayana decided to take control around 4K when she made a decisive move that no one seemed intent to counter. And it turned out, that move would decide the race.

From that point she ran entirely alone and picked up the pace substantially. Some of her 5K splits within the race would have won most international competitions. She finished the race with a massive negative split: 15:51 for the first half, 14:25 for the second (which would rank 2nd in the world this year).

Just watched the ultimate negative split by Almaz Ayana: 15:51 / 14:25. #London2017

— David Monti (@d9monti) August 5, 2017

Ayana's 5k from 4k to 9k was 14:24. That's the #2 time in the world in the 5k this year…in the middle of the 10k!

— Steve Magness (@stevemagness) August 5, 2017

The two Canadians in the field, Natasha Wodak and Rachel Cliff, held their own and finished 16th and 20th in seasonal and personal best times of 31:55.47 and 32:00.03, respectively.

Natasha Wodak (@tasha_wodak) 16th in 10000m final 31:55.47 SB, Rachel Cliff (@Dangerous_Cliff) 20th 32:00.03 PB #IAAFWorlds #London2017

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 5, 2017

?? @tasha_wodak & @Dangerous_Cliff put down two solid performances. SB & PB to each in the 10,000. @CBCOlympics #london2017 pic.twitter.com/LhT310UK6Q

— Perdita Felicien (@perditafelicien) August 5, 2017

Wodak is also the Canadian record holder at 10,000m with a personal best of 31:41.59 set in 2015.