Women’s 5,000m: Meseret Defar wins Olympic Gold, Tirunesh Dibaba clinches Bronze
London, UK – (RIA Novosti) – Ethiopia’s 2004 gold medalist Meseret Defar regained her Olympic 5,000 meters title on Friday, powering dramatically past defending champion Tirunesh Dibaba in the final straight.
Defar accelerated to the line in 15 minutes, 4.25 seconds, with Kenya’s world champion Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot taking the silver half a second back.
Dibaba, the world record holder, flagged in the last 50 meters to drop to the bronze medal in 15:05.15.
Defar was a bronze medalist in Beijing four years ago.
Final Official Results:
| Rk | Athlete | Mark |
| 1 |  DEFAR Meseret (Ethiopia) | 15:04.25 |
| 2 |  CHERUIYOT Vivian Jepkemoi (Kenya) | 15:04.73 |
| 3 |  DIBABA Tirunesh (Ethiopia) | 15:05.15 |
| 4 |  KIPYEGO Sally Jepkosgei (Kenya) | 15:05.79 |
| 5 |  BURKA Gelete (Ethiopia) | 15:10.66 |
| 6 |  KIBIWOT Viola Jelagat (Ethiopia) | 15:11.59 |
| 10 |  ESHETE Shitaye Ethiopia/Bahrain) | 15:19.13 |
| 12 |  DABA Tejitu (Ethiopia/Bahrain) | 15:21.34 |
