Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana smashes world record in women's 10,000m in Rio

By Jonathan Rumley, CBC Sports

Ethiopian runner Almaz Ayana shattered a new world record in the gruelling 10,000-metre women's race Friday at the Rio Olympic Games. 

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The 24-year-old athlete lapped runners as she pushed the pace in the long-distance event, finishing with a time of 29:17.45. The previous world record, held by Junxia Wang of China, was 29:31.78 set in 1993.

After crossing the finish line, she raised her hands in triumph and then stopped, coming to realize what she had done in only her second 10,000 at an important meet: Her time of 29 minutes, 17.45, had shaved 14.33 seconds off the 1993 mark of China's Wang Junxia.

"It was not my plan," Ayana said. Once she got going, no plan was going to stop her.

Ayana, who is unbeaten this season, is now poised to become the next dominating long-distance runner and is also going for gold in the 5,000 metres next Friday.

Kenya's Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot came second (29:32.53) while Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia took bronze with a personal best (29:42.56) Friday in Brazil.

Dibaba missed out on the chance to become the first woman to win three individual gold medals in a row in the 10,000-metre race after winning in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).

Natasha Wodak, 34, of Surrey, B.C., was the top Canadian, finishing in 22nd place. Fellow Canadian Lanni Marchant of London, Ont., was 25th.

"Today is the first time that I felt like myself in a really long time," Wodak said. "I'm just so relieved. It's been a really big journey to get here. And I'm really proud of what I did on the track today."

With the world record being broken, it meant the pace was too much for most of the runners. Both Wodak and Marchant did their best to stay with it as long as they could.

"I just tried to hang on to some girls and then in the last couple of kilometres, I just found myself in no man's land," said Marchant, 32, who is also competing in the women's marathon on Sunday morning. 

Friday's conditions were ideal — cool and overcast with a damp track from morning rain. But the 60,000-capacity Olympic stadium was only a quarter full to see Ayana's accomplishment.

The top 13 finishers all had milestones, with continental, national or personal records tumbling, perhaps making it one of the greatest women's long-distance races in history. Even double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba had never run faster.

China tops race walk

Chinese competitors finished with the top two spots Friday in the men's 20-kilometre race walk.

China's Zhen Wang took gold with a time of 1:19:14, Zelin Cai of China finished with a seasonal best time of 1:19:26 and Australia's Dane Bird-Smith claimed bronze with a personal best 1:19:37 outdoors in the Pontal area of Rio.

Canadians Evan Dunfee, Inaki Gomez and Benjamin Thorne placed 10th, 12th and 27th, respectively.  

McBride moves on

In the men's 800 metres, Brandon McBride of Windsor, Ont., won his heat easily in 1:45.99, advancing to the second round. McBride has broken 1:44 this season and finished second at the NCAA championships earlier this season. 

He has also run well at some top meets in Europe, leading up to the Olympics.

"I just got a boatload of confidence from the Diamond Leagues," McBride said. "Those prepared me for today. Hopefully I can get into that final."

Canada's other runner in the event, Anthony Romaniw, a 24-year-old from Hamilton, Ont., finished with a time of 1:47.59 and failed to move on in the competition.

The semifinals are taking place at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday at 9:08 p.m. ET.

With files from The Associated Press