2011 World Championships Recap: Long Distance

Kenya won four of six long distance races and collected 10 distance medals, led by Vivian Cheruiyot, who won both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter events. Kenya was particularly dominant in the two marathon races, winning five of six medals. Mo Farah of Great Britain came close to matching Cheruiyot, earning a gold and a silver in the long distance track events.

Despite a pit stop problem, Kenya became the first nation to ever sweep the World Championship marathon medals as Edna Kiplagat led her teammates across the finish line to win in 2:28:43. After a slow early pace the three Kenyans and Ethiopia’s Aberu Kebede pulled away from the pack after about 30 kilometers. Kebede soon fell back and the Kenyans had nothing to fear but each other – particularly at a late-race water station, where Kiplagat was accidentally bumped by Sharon Cherop. The pair were OK, however, and Kiplagat ran away with the victory, followed by Priscah Jeptoo (2:29:00) and Cherop (2:29:14).

About midway through the men’s marathon, Kenya’s Abel Kirui said goodbye to the large pack he was running with and dashed off on his own, blowing away the field to defend his title in 2:07:38. Kirui’s margin of 2 minutes, 28 seconds over fellow Kenyan Vincent Kipruto was the largest in World Championship marathon history.

Kirui and the rest of the leaders ran a bit slowly through 20 kilometers, then Kirui reeled off three consecutive sub-15 minute splits to take charge. Kirui ran 14:43 between the 20- and 25-kilometer marks, then began pulling away from the field with a blazing 14:18 split, the fastest ever recorded in a World Championship, to take an 11-second lead after 30 kilometers. Kirui then ran a 14:40 split to push his lead over Kipruto to more than one minute by the 35-kilometer mark. The Kenyan eased up a bit, yet continued to build his lead until the end. Kipruto finished second in 2:10:04, followed by Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa in 2:10:32.

A group of four Kenyans, along with one Ethiopian, separated from the pack in the closing laps. Cheruiyot grabbed the lead just before the bell, then she and Sally Kipyego pulled away, with Cheruiyot maintaining the gap and winning the first half of the long distance double. Cheruiyot finished in 30:48.98, followed by Kipyego (30:50:04) and defending champion Linet Masai (30:53.59).

Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia won an exciting men’s final, passing Farah on the final straight. Farah had emerged from an eight-runner pack on the penultimate lap and seemed to be pulling away at the start of the final lap. But Jeilan reeled him in and won in 27:13.81. Farah took second (27:14.07) and Imane Merga third (27:19.14). Kenenisa Bekele, who’d just returned from a leg injury, tried to make a bid for his fifth consecutive World title, but pulled out of the race with 10 laps remaining.

Cheruiyot completed the double by adding the 5000-meter gold to her trophy case. Cheruiyot was at or near the lead in the latter half of the race as part of a green, black and red wall of four Ethiopians and three Kenyans. Cheruiyot led at the bell, then ran a 58.6-second final lap to secure the victory in 14:55.36. Fellow Kenyan Sylvia Kibet was second (14:56.21) with Ethiopian veteran Meseret Defar earning the bronze (14:56.94). Cheruiyot was the second woman to win the World Championships long distance double – Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba was the first, in 2005.

Bernard Lagat, who the 1500-5000 double in 2007, shadowed Farah throughout the slow-paced race, but Lagat got caught up in some traffic around the final turn and let Farah gain too much of a lead. After Lagat escaped he gained ground on Farah but couldn’t catch him. Farah won in 13:23.36, with Lagat second in 13:23.64. Imane Merga crossed the line third but was disqualified for stepping inside the curb, leaving the bronze to fellow Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel (13:23.92).