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1997 World Championships in Athletics Athens, Greece

1997 6th IAAF World Championships - Athens - Women's 10,000m

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Details: Parent Category: World Championships in Athletics; Category: 1997 World Championships in Athletics Athens, Greece; Last Updated: 25 July 2020; Hits: 92

Host City: Athens, Greece

Format: First round (First 8 & 4 fastest to final) (Aug 2)

Dates: August 1–10, 1997

Nations participating: 198

Athletes participating: 1882

Main venue: Olympic Stadium

Overview by IAAF

History was made when, for the first time, a Kenyan woman won a global track title. The distinction fell to Barsosio, who at the 1993 Championships, when reportedly only 15, had become the youngest ever medallist when finishing third in controversial circumstances. This time she dethroned Ribeiro in 31:32.92, which was recognised as a world junior record since her 1993 mark of 31:15.38 was never ratified as no doping test was carried out. The first half of the race, run in 30hC heat, was slow, with Ribeiro the leader in 16:12.81, but Barsosio, who burst ahead three laps from the end with a 67.9 23rd lap, completed her second 5000m in 15:20.0 with an unstoppable final kilometre of 2:52.35. “Ribeiro has a strong kick and I didn’t want to wait for it,” she explained. Several leading lights met with disaster. The 1992 Olympic Champion Tulu was eliminated in the heats, her Ethiopian colleague Wami (the 1996 world cross country champion) was carried off with a pulled muscle, and Meyer – the Olympic runner-up to Tulu – fell and finished last.

The women's 10,000 metres event featured at the 1997 World Championships in Athens, Greece. There were a total number of 34 participating athletes, with two qualifying heats on 2 August and the final being held on 5 August 1997.

	10,000m			*5 August*
Event report women 10,000m final For many years Kenya’s men have won gold medals at Olympics and World Championships, but until today, no Kenyan woman had ever won a gold medal. Sally Barsosio became the first with an impressive win over a tough field. Her time, 31:32.92, is a world Junior record for the 19 year-old. In the early laps, the crowded pack moved cautiously, passing the first kilometre in 3:25.55, the slowest of the race. Japan’s Masako Chiba took turns leading with Yang Siju of China. Olympic champion Fernanda Ribeiro moved to the fore prior to the 4km mark and stayed in the lead through halfway, in 16:12.81. Barsosio, the bronze medallist from 1993, followed close behind, with Chiba and Wami in tow. At 6km (19:24.67), Chiba led the pack of 10. On the next lap, Ribeiro took the lead again. Ethiopia’s Gete Wami, the 1996 Olympic bronze medallist, tumbled to the ground, apparently after being spiked. A lap later, the rough attrition continued, with South Africa’s Elana Meyer, the 1992 Olympic silver medallist, stepping on the heels of Yang and tripping, causing several runners to hurdle her. Ribeiro continued to lead through 8,800m, then Barsosio made a decisive move, gradually increasing her pace and stretching the pack to its breaking point. With a 67.89 lap, Barsosio put 30 metres between herself and Ribeiro, with Chiba another 10 back. She covered the next circuit in 69.46 to build a 50m lead over Ribeiro; she lapped Meyer at the bell. Looking back repeatedly over the last lap, Barsosio finished with a 70.34 circuit and collapsed after crossing the line. Ribeiro and Chiba both produced fine kicks, but were too far back to make a dent. Before the last runner finished, Barsosio had recovered and begun a joyous victory lap.
	Final
1	Sally Barsosio	KEN	21 Mar 78	31.32.92
2	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	23 Jun 69	31.39.15
3	Masako Chiba	JPN	18 Jul 76	31.41.93
4	Berhane Adere	ETH	21 Jul 73	31.48.95
5	Ren Xiujuan	CHN	14 Sep 74	31.50.63
6	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	9 May 73	32.00.93
7	Yang Siju	CHN	19 Apr 73	32.01.61
8	Colleen de Reuck	RSA	13 Apr 64	32.03.81
9	Silvia Sommaggio	ITA	20 Nov 69	32.16.92
10	Chiemi Takahashi	JPN	16 Feb 76	32.23.61
11	Nora Rocha	MEX	18 Dec 67	32.34.58
12	Julia Vaquero	ESP	18 Sep 70	32.36.91
13	Annette Peters	USA	31 May 65	32.43.38
14	Chantal Dällenbach	FRA	24 Oct 62	32.51.20
15	Annemari Kiekara	FIN	2 Jan 77	33.00.11
16	Hiromi Masuda	JPN	18 Jul 76	33.03.14
17	Elana Meyer	RSA	10 Oct 66	33.05.82
	Gete Wami	ETH	11 Dec 74	DNF
	Marleen Renders	BEL	24 Dec 68	DNF
	Zahia Dahmani	FRA	2 Jun 72	DNF
Event report women 10,000m heats Heat I: Marina Bastos of Portugal took the field through the early pedestrian laps, passing 1000m in 3:27.56. She later dropped out. Ren Xiujuan took over by 2K, and led for the next two kilometers. At 5K (16:56.09), Greece’s Chrisoula Iakovou led. Italy’s Silvia Sommaggio took over after 6K. With five laps to go, as the speed increased, 1992 Olympic champion Derartu Tulu started dropping off the pace. Eventually, Nora Rocha of Mexico led a tight pack across the line in 33:07.09. On the last circuit, Tulu was more than 30 metres behind, ending up the most notable of the non-qualifiers. Other non-qualifiers included Oliveira Yevtic of Yugoslavia, the European Under-23 champion. Heat II: The pace ran significantly faster in heat two, resulting in athletes in the latter race grabbing all of the four time qualifying positions for the final. Chantal Dallenbach of France took the early pace, hitting 1K in 3:09.32, nearly 20 seconds faster than the first heat. She continued to lead through 4K, when Yang Siju of China took over. At 5K (15:58.76), Masako Chiba of Japan took over. Colleen De Reuck of South Africa led until the final stages. The pack bunched for the final kick, with Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere crossing the line first in 32:05.29.
	Heats			*2 August*
	Heat 1
1	Nora Leticia Rocha	MEX		33.07.09
2	Annemari Sandell	FIN		33.07.50
3	Xiujuan Ren	CHN		33.08.12
4	Silvia Sommaggio	ITA		33.08.19
5	Tegla Loroupe	KEN		33.08.20
6	Chiemi Takahashi	JPN		33.08.26
7	Zahia Dahmani	FRA		33.08.68
8	Elana Meyer	RSA		33.09.70
9	Khrysostomia Iakovou	GRE		33.14.86
10	Olivera Jevtic	YUG		33.18.42
11	Derartu Tulu	ETH	21 Mar 72	33.25.99
12	Gwyn Coogan	USA		34.06.34
13	Yvonne Danson	SIN		37.19.51
14	Ela Esperanza Obono	GEQ		45.13.69
-	Marina Bastos	POR		DNF
-	Nyla Carroll	NZL		DNF
	Heat 2
1	Berhane Adere	ETH	21 Jul 73	32.05.29
2	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	23 Jun 69	32.05.65
3	Sally Barsosio	KEN	21 Mar 78	32.05.68
4	Gete Wami	ETH	11 Dec 74	32.05.73
5	Masako Chiba	JPN	18 Jul 76	32.05.76
6	Yang Siju	CHN	19 Apr 73	32.06.12
7	Colleen de Reuck	RSA	13 Apr 64	32.09.56
8	Hiromi Masuda	JPN	18 Jul 76	32.11.63
9	Julia Vaquero	ESP	18 Sep 70	32.12.25
10	Annette Peters	USA	31 May 65	32.14.08
11	Chantal Dallenbach	FRA		32.49.40
12	Marleen Renders	BEL		33.02.37
13	Helena Sampaio	POR		33.14.85
14	Adriana Fernandez	MEX		33.40.09
15	Kylie Risk	AUS		33.56.48
16	Maysa Matrood	IRQ		35.44.93

Startlist

Heat 1 02 AUG 1997 20:50

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Xiujuan Ren	CHN	31:13.21
2	Olivera Jevtic	SCG	32:38.0	32:43.42
3	Chiemi Takahashi	JPN	32:03.81
4	Marina Bastos	POR	32:09.95	32:09.95
5	Annemari Sandell-Hyvärinen	FIN	31:40.42	32:48.57
6	Esperanza Obono Ela	GEQ	45:00.96
7	Yvonne Danson	SGP	36:27.39
8	Nyla Carroll	NZL	31:28.12	31:28.12
9	Silvia Sommaggio	ITA	31:38.94	31:38.94
10	Elana Meyer	RSA	30:52.51
11	Zahia Dahmani	FRA	32:10.21	32:10.21
12	Gwyn Coogan	USA
13	Nora Leticia Rocha	MEX	34:23.78
14	Derartu Tulu	ETH	31:06.02
15	Hrisostomía Iakóvou	GRE	32:34.87	32:34.87
16	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	31:17.66

Heat 2 02 AUG 1997 21:35

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Kylie Risk	AUS
2	Marleen Renders	BEL	31:57.87	31:57.87
3	Siju Yang	CHN	32:22.77
4	Julia Vaquero	ESP	31:14.51	31:14.51
5	Berhane Adere	ETH	32:02.94
6	Chantal Dällenbach	FRA	32:06.99
7	Maysa Matrood	IRQ
8	Masako Chiba	JPN	31:20.46
9	Annette Peters	USA
10	Adriana Fernández	MEX	31:53.36
11	Helena Sampaio	POR
12	Colleen De Reuck	RSA	32:14.69
13	Gete Wami	ETH	31:06.65
14	Hiromi Masuda	JPN
15	Sally Barsosio	KEN	31:15.38
16	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	31:01.63