Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot claimed the women's 5000-10,000m double after winning gold in the shorter race at the world championships on Friday. The Kenyan defending champion timed 14min 55.36sec, with compatriot Sylvia Kibet taking silver (14:56.21) and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia claiming bronze (14:56.94).
Cheruiyot becomes only the second woman to achieve this particular distance double after Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba at the Helsinki worlds in 2005. The diminutive Kenyan, who has been unbeaten at any distance on the track this year, wrapped up the win with a punishing 58.68sec final lap to take the sting out of her rivals.
Kibet produced a startling sprint for the line to nip in before Defar and make it another 1-2 for Kenya, further confirming the east African country's status as the dominant nation in middle distance and long distance running. Cheruiyot and Kibet's medal showings follow medals cleansweeps in the women's 10,000m and marathon, and golds for David Rudisha in the men's 800m, and an Ezekiel Kemboi-led 1-2 in the men's 3000m steeplechase. "My race was OK," an understated Cheruiyot said. "I am incredibly happy to be a double medallist at this point. Both events were very hard."