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Record breaking Olympic 10,000m victory for Ethiopia's Tulu
= = SYDNEY, Sept 30 (AFP) - Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia won a gripping women's 10,000 meter final here on Saturday night in a new Olympic record. The 28-year-old Barcelona champion clocked 30mins 17.49 seconds to finish more than five seconds ahead of her teammate Gete Wami with Atlanta gold medallist Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal taking the bronze. The previous record of 31:01.63 had been set four years ago by Ribeiro. "I am more experienced than in Barcelona. It was always going to be an Ethiopian race. The others were just not up to it," said Tulu. It was a devastating run by Tulu, who proved her comeback from the birth of her child and a series of injuries as she made her break at the 400 meter mark. Tulu simply swept out in front and neither Wami, the current world champion, nor Ribeiro could answer. "I realised from early on I was running for the minor medals," admitted Ribeiro. "The two Ethopians were too strong tonight." It was heartbreak for Britain's Paula Radcliffe who had led from the gun. Radcliffe instantly set a cracking pace that split the field wide open. Within eight laps there were only five runners in it - Radcliffe, Tulu, Wami, Ribeiro and Kenya's Tegla Loroupe. With two laps to go, Kenya's medal hopes died when Loroupe began to slip back and out of contention. Radcliffe still led but when Tulu began her kick at the bell the English woman suddenly found herself sliding back out of the medals. "I chose the most difficult tactic. I knew it was going to be hard, but I wanted to risk it and try and win gold," said Radcliffe. ""With six laps to go it was very difficult. I risked everything for the gold and now I don't have anything to show for all the hard work I have done," she added.
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