OSAKA, Japan (AFP) — Ethiopian distance star Meseret Defar can't wait to renew her rivalry with Tirunesh Dibaba in Beijing after adding world 5,000m gold to her Olympic title.
Defar cashed in the defending champion's late withdrawal to wipe away years of hurt after crashing out in the 2003 heats and finishing second in 2005.
"Finally I'm the world champion. My tactics were to wait until the last two laps and then start my finish," Defar said.
"I am the champion and that's great. In Beijing I will run the 5,000m and maybe in future I will try the 10,000m."
The 23-year-old held back on Saturday until the final 200 metres before charging for the line, outsprinting three Kenyans headed by Vivian Cheruiyot to cross in 14 minutes 57.91 seconds.
Two years ago it was a different story as Dibaba, who defended her 10,000m title but dropped out of the 5,000m with stomach pains, pulled away from Defar on the final lap.
"Tirunesh Dibaba is a very strong athlete and a very good competitor for me. I am sorry she is sick and she is not here," said Defar.
"But she is the 10,000m champion and I am the 5,000m world champion so that is good.
"I ran for my country and I wanted the gold medal, and today, I was 100 percent sure I would win."
Victory for Defar will be less certain next year in what promises to be a classic Olympic showdown.
Quadruple world gold medallist Dibaba is the 2003 and 2005 champion over 5,000m and her races with Defar are legendary.
Defar beat Dibaba into third place at the Athens Olympics and she lowered the world record to 14:16:63 in June.
Last year Defar beat Dibaba in Berlin to cut significantly her share of the Golden League jackpot, increasing reported tensions between them.
Kenyan athletes will also be hopeful of breaking Ethiopian dominance after their impressive two, three, four finish here.
"I am so excited about my silver medal. These are my first world championships in track and I have the silver medal," said the second-placed Cheruiyot.
"Next time, I will try to do better. Kenya came second, third and fourth -- this is extraordinary."
Last time it was Ethiopia who swept the board but Meselech Melkamu, fourth in 2005, finished sixth with Gelete Burika tenth.
"We had hoped to take first through third, but we did not succeed. We were aiming to break away with two laps to go, and we tried, but I could not keep up with the speed," Melkamu said.
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