Ethiopia's Defar wins women's 5,000

London, England – Meseret Defar put in a strong kick as reigning Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba faded on the home stretch, overtaking her Ethiopian teammate to win the women's 5,000 meters Friday.

Defar completed the race in 15 minutes, 4.25 seconds to earn her second gold medal at the distance. She won the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but has been overshadowed in more recent races, including a bronze in 2008.

Dibaba entered Friday's race as the defending champion and world record holder, and was trying to complete another distance double. She won both the 5,000 and 10,000 in Beijing four years ago, and repeated as 10,000 titlist last week.

The 27-year-old took over the lead with several laps remaining, but could neither break free nor hold her pace. Dibaba was passed by Defar and Kenya's Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot in the final 100 meters.

Cheruiyot, the reigning world champion, was too far back to catch up to Defar's final surge and crossed the line in 15:04.73 for silver.

Dibaba held on for bronze, coming in 0.90 seconds slower than Defar.