5. Almaz Ayana vs Tirunesh Dibaba
You might want to call this the battle of the old order against the new. Ever since Ayana left the Steeplechase in 2014 to compete in the 5000m, she’s been the undisputed world No.1.
While Ayana ruled the circuits running impressive times that saw her win the World title last year in Beijing, Dibaba was making her way back to the track having put to bed in 2014.
Ayana has twice come very close to matching Dibaba’s World Record (WR) of 14:11.15, clocking the second fastest time in history over that distance when she won in Rome with a time 14:12.59, just marginally shy of matching it. This further cemented Ayana’s place in history as an indefatigable athlete.
We might have been talking about 5000m, but these two ladies will be doing battle in the 10000m in Rio, because Dibaba was registered as a reserve in the shorter distance by the Ethiopian Federation, while Ayana will be competing in both.
So, will running in two tough races affect Ayana and give Dibaba an edge when they meet in the 10,000m? It is left to be seen, because the women’s 10,000m final comes up on the very first day of Athletics events, with the 5000m heats taking place four days later.
Both athletes will give everything on Day 1 in the 10,000m, and that race will be the perfect marker to determine which Ethiopian lady will be crowned queen of the long distance races.
Don’t forget that the very first time these two met this year at a meet in Hengelo, Ayana ran the fastest time ever recorded in a debut for the 10,000m, clocking a World Lead (WL) of 30:07.00. Dibaba finished 3rd in that race and almost 20s behind Ayana in 30:28.53.
So is revenge on the cards? Dibaba is the defending 10,000m champion and holds the Olympic Record (OR) of 29:54.66, which she set at Beijing 2008 Games, going on to win back to back GOLD at the London 2012 Olympics. She understands the intricacies of the race and will be no pushover.
Having been named as only a reserve in the 5000m, she will literally be putting all her eggs in this race to land a consecutive triple GOLD. However Ayana has shown that she does not whittle under pressure, and can give in equal measures of whatever she gets.
A record might tumble in the 10,000m as both ladies battle for GOLD. Who knows it could be Dibaba’s OR, or maybe the long standing WR of 29:31.78 set by China’s Wang Junxia could finally cave in.
