Reigning World 10,000m silver medallist Elvan Abeylegesse cruised to her third consecutive European Cup 10,000m victory in Istanbul today, capping a Turkish sweep along with men’s winner, Selim Bayrak.

Kicking away from Dutchwoman Lornah Kiplagat over the final few laps, the 25-year-old Ethiopian-born former 5000m World record holder reached the finish in 31:36.33, the fastest performance in the world this year.

With her victory, Abeylegesse became the first woman to win the title three times, breaking her tie with Briton Paula Radcliffe and Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal. Abeylegesse has dominated the race in each of her appearances. In miserable conditions in Antalya, Turkey, two years ago, she clocked a national record 30:21.67, the fastest performance in the world that year, and last year won by nearly 35 seconds in 31:25.15.

Kiplagat, the two-time defending World Road Running champion, was a distant second in 31:53.72, shy of the 31:22 Olympic qualifying standard set by Dutch selectors and the Olympic ‘A’ standard of 31:45.00.

Kiplagat’s cousin, Hilda Kibet, who also competes for The Netherlands, was third with a personal best of 32:05.49. Aniko Kalovics of Hungary was fourth (32:09.02) and Romanian Alina Gherasim fifth (32:29.52).

Beyrak, the former Ethiopian Girma Legese, ran away with the men’s title, winning in 27:47.75, also an early season world leader. The 20-year-old won 3000m bronze for his native Ethiopia at the 2003 World Youth Championships.

Spaniard Carles Castillejo was a distant second in 28:07.55 and well back, Oleg Kunkov of Russia, was third, clocking 28:48.55, leading Russia to the men’s team title.

Juan Carlos de la Ossa of Spain, one of the pre-race favourites, was a distant fifth (28:55.58).

The double Turkish triumph marked the first time in the competition’s 12 editions that one county swept both individual gold medals.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Click here for RESULTS (pdf file)