RIO DE JANEIRO — Almaz Ayana smashed the world record in the women's 10,000 meters on Thursday, the opening day of track and field at the Rio Olympics.
The Ethiopian star pulled away midway through the race and blitzed to the gold medal in a winning time of 29:17.45, 14 seconds better than the previous record (Wang Junxia of China, 29:31.78, set in 1993).
Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya took silver.
The race was littered with national and personal records, including an American record for sixth-place finisher Molly Huddle 30:13.17.
Tirunesh Dibaba took bronze, missing out on the chance to become the first woman to win three individual gold medals in a row.