2. ALMAZ AYANA
Many would say that the fear of Almaz Ayana is the beginning of wisdom, for it is no mean feat going against this ‘Ethiopian Machine’ who has mastered the art of demolishing her rivals in the 3000m, 5000m and 10000m. Therefore, it would not be out of place to refer to her as the ‘Jack of many trades and master of all’.
Ayana has now become the poster girl of the long distance event, having upstaged Genzebe Dibaba last year to win the 5000m at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, before handing her another defeat at the final Diamond League (DL) meeting in Zurich. Fans were anticipating a rekindling of the rivalry between the pair this year but it was not to be, as Dibaba had an off year, having been plagued by injuries.
And so Ayana single-handedly stole the show, winning all of her races at the DL, starting with the 3000m in Doha. She won the 5000m in Rabat and Rome, having made an attempt on Tirunesh Dibaba’s World Record (WR) of 14:11.15 both times. She came close in Rome, racing to second fastest time ever in the event, a mark of 14:12.59.
At the Ethiopian Trials for the 10000m in Hengelo, Ayana made her debut over the distance and dominated a field that included Tirunesh, handing the older Dibaba her first defeat over the 10000m after posting a time of 30:07.00, which is the fastest debut in history. Incidentally, the 10000m happened to be the first track event at the Rio Games, and whilst everyone expected a spectacular performance from Ayana, only a few would have tipped her to break the WR, seeing that it was only her second attempt over the distance.
But break the WR she did, erasing Wang Junxia’s 23-year old mark of 29:31.78 with her new time of 29:17.45. Having conquered the 10000m, it was time to face the 5000m. However, things didn’t go according to plan as exhaustion had already set in, causing Ayana to succumb to her first loss of the season, settling for Bronze as Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot raced to GOLD with an Olympic Record (OR) of 14:26.17, while the Ethiopian clocked 14:33.59.
She was however consoled by her victory at the Brussels DL a few weeks later where she returned a time of 14:18.89 and won the Diamond Race, inspring the next five finishers to Personal Bests (PB). Her eye-catching performances saw her win the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year award, making her the third Ethiopian woman after Meseret Defar (2007) and Genzebe Dibaba (2015) to win the prestigious prize.
