On the opening day of Athletics, Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba defended her gold medal in the women's 10,000 meters Friday night at the 2012 Summer Olympics, pulling away from her competition late and winning in dominant fashion.
Dibaba, 27, broke away with 500m remaining and furthered her lead, eventually winning in a time of 30:20.75, nearly a full six seconds ahead of the silver medal winner, Kenya's Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego. Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot, also of Kenya, finished in 30:30.44 for the bronze medal.
Americans Amy Hastings (31:10), Janet Cherobon-Bawcom and Lisa Uhl finished 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.
The win marks Dibaba's third overall Olympic gold after winning both the 5,000m and 10,000m in Beijing -- she was first female athlete to accomplish that double. She'll aim to repeat that feat when she runs in the 5,000m in London in one week's time, on Aug. 10.
For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.
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