Hitomi Niiya of Japan and Molly Huddle of the United States lead the pack in the Women's 5000m Round 1 Heats on Day 11 of the London 2012 Olympic Games on 7 August 2012 (© Getty Images)
Tirunesh Dibaba initially a reserve but reinstated to the Ethiopian trio after retaining her 10,000m title last Friday took the first step to scoring another distance double when coasting through her qualifier where both races were dominated by East African runners.
Dibaba the only woman to have previously achieved the feat with her victories in Beijing, along with 2004 champion and teammate Meseret Defar plus Kenya's former World Junior cross country winner Viola Kibiwot, were a class above their opponents.
The trio taking charge of the heat over the final circuit cruised around the stadium with Dibaba first across the line in 14:58.48 just 0.22sec in front of her fellow countrywoman and Kibiwot clocking 14:59.31.
Olga Golovkina and Julie Culley were blown apart over the last lap covered by the leader's 60.68 split, but their personal bests of 15:05.26 and 15:05.38 saw them progress automatically
Dibaba feeling no aches and pains from her earlier outing, said: "It was a good race, and I am in good shape. It is a qualifying round but it was a good test to know my physical condition after I ran the 10,000m three days ago."
"God knows, I'm ready," she added. "Meseret is ready and the gold medal will be in our hands if God is willing."
Defar confirming her shape and who along with Vivian Cheruiyot, the 2009 and 2011 World champion have the capability of beating Dibaba, said: "I have a good chance, I'm in a good shape and I'm feeling fine but there are other strong athletes in the field and I will never stop fighting for it.”
"The plan was to save energy. It was a good race and everything went according to plan. I am ready for the final."
The second heat with the contestants knowing what time they had to run to make the final cut even as fastest losers was surprisingly slower for the first 4km. But at that point thanks to an earlier injection of speed by Molly Huddle they were beginning to go faster.
Julia Bleasdale led into the home straight but neither she nor Huddle could respond when an African cavalry charge involving Gelete Burka, Cheruiyot and Sally Kipyego, the 10,000m runner up, saw them cross the line in that order.
Burka recorded 15:01.44 just 1/100sec ahead of Cheruiyot, a disappointed bronze medallist over the longer distance, with Kipyego like the other two, barely breathing hard third in 15:01.87. Then followed Bleasdale, who set a PB 15:02.00 and Huddle just 0.26 in arrears.
The latter's positive pacemaking in the second half of the race ensured four of the contestants Yelena Nagovitsyna, Jo Pavey, Shitaye Eshete and Elena Romagnola behind her made the cut as fastest losers compared to only one - Tejitu Daba in the initial heat.
Dave Martin for the IAAF
Dibaba the only woman to have previously achieved the feat with her victories in Beijing, along with 2004 champion and teammate Meseret Defar plus Kenya's former World Junior cross country winner Viola Kibiwot, were a class above their opponents.
The trio taking charge of the heat over the final circuit cruised around the stadium with Dibaba first across the line in 14:58.48 just 0.22sec in front of her fellow countrywoman and Kibiwot clocking 14:59.31.
Olga Golovkina and Julie Culley were blown apart over the last lap covered by the leader's 60.68 split, but their personal bests of 15:05.26 and 15:05.38 saw them progress automatically
Dibaba feeling no aches and pains from her earlier outing, said: "It was a good race, and I am in good shape. It is a qualifying round but it was a good test to know my physical condition after I ran the 10,000m three days ago."
"God knows, I'm ready," she added. "Meseret is ready and the gold medal will be in our hands if God is willing."
Defar confirming her shape and who along with Vivian Cheruiyot, the 2009 and 2011 World champion have the capability of beating Dibaba, said: "I have a good chance, I'm in a good shape and I'm feeling fine but there are other strong athletes in the field and I will never stop fighting for it.”
"The plan was to save energy. It was a good race and everything went according to plan. I am ready for the final."
The second heat with the contestants knowing what time they had to run to make the final cut even as fastest losers was surprisingly slower for the first 4km. But at that point thanks to an earlier injection of speed by Molly Huddle they were beginning to go faster.
Julia Bleasdale led into the home straight but neither she nor Huddle could respond when an African cavalry charge involving Gelete Burka, Cheruiyot and Sally Kipyego, the 10,000m runner up, saw them cross the line in that order.
Burka recorded 15:01.44 just 1/100sec ahead of Cheruiyot, a disappointed bronze medallist over the longer distance, with Kipyego like the other two, barely breathing hard third in 15:01.87. Then followed Bleasdale, who set a PB 15:02.00 and Huddle just 0.26 in arrears.
The latter's positive pacemaking in the second half of the race ensured four of the contestants Yelena Nagovitsyna, Jo Pavey, Shitaye Eshete and Elena Romagnola behind her made the cut as fastest losers compared to only one - Tejitu Daba in the initial heat.
Dave Martin for the IAAF
