Amazing Ayana claims stunning 10,000m gold in first race of 2017
She may not have taken to the track in 2017 prior to Saturday, but Almaz Ayana dominated the women's 10,000m to take Worlds gold.
Almaz Ayana added gold in the 10,000 metres at the IAAF World Championships to her Olympic title with an utterly dominant display on Saturday, despite it being her first appearance on the track in 2017.
Injury troubles have plagued the Ethiopian this year and consigned her to the sidelines, but she beat compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba to gold by 46.37 seconds - the biggest winning margin in the history of the event at the Worlds.
It was another sensational performance from Ayana, who beat the world record record to triumph at Rio 2016, with three-time champion Dibaba and bronze medallist Agnes Jebet streets behind.
Ayana tore away at the midway point to make the race her own, winning in a world-leading time of 30 minutes and 16.33secs.
Ayana jostled for position on the opening lap before settling for a spot in behind the leaders, with Dibaba taking a place in the centre of the pack.
The Olympic champion pushed up onto the back of Sitora Khamidova with 20 laps to go, and Dibaba soon followed.
A slow start enabled Ayana to up the pace towards the midway point, with Yasemin Can the only person to try and stay on her tail.
Can could not keep up as Ayana moved over 16 seconds clear at the 6,000m mark, and there was no looking back as the Ethiopian sprinted on to a phenomenal win.