WCH Tokyo 25 facts and figures: women's 10,000m

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023: 1 Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) – 31:27.18, 2 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) – 31:28.16, 3 Ejgayehu Taye (ETH) – 31:28.31
2022: 1 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) – 30:09.94, 2 Hellen Obiri (KEN) – 30:10.02, 3 Margaret Kipkemboi (KEN) – 30:10.07
2019: 1 Sifan Hassan (NED) – 30:17.62, 2 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) – 30:21.23, 3 Agnes Tirop (KEN) – 30:25.20

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

2024: 1 Beatrice Chebet (KEN) – 30:43.25, 2 Nadia Battocletti (ITA) – 30:43.35, 3 Sifan Hassan (NED) – 30:44.12
2020: 1 Sifan Hassan (NED) – 29:55.32, 2 Kalkidan Gezahegne (BRN) – 29:56.18, 3 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) – 30:01.72

Fastest winning times in World Athletics Championships history

30:04.18 – Berhane Adere (ETH), 2003
30:09.94 – Letesenbet Gidey (ETH), 2022
30:16.32 – Almaz Ayana (ETH), 2017

Slowest winning time in World Athletics Championships history

31:55.41 – Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH), 2007

Fastest times set on Japanese soil

29:55.32 1 Sifan Hassan (NED) - Tokyo (Olympics) 07.08.2021
29:56.18 2 Kalkidan Gezahegne (BRN) - Tokyo (Olympics) 07.08.2021
30:01.72 3 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) - Tokyo (Olympics) 07.08.2021

Fastest times set on Asian soil

29:55.32 1 Sifan Hassan (NED) - Tokyo (Olympics) 07.08.2021
29:56.18 2 Kalkidan Gezahegne (BRN) - Tokyo (Olympics) 07.08.2021
30:01.72 3 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) - Tokyo (Olympics) 07.08.2021

Biggest winning margins

46.37s – 2017: Almaz Ayana (ETH) – 30:16.32, Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) – 31:02.69
23.25s – 1993: Wang Junxia (CHN) – 30:49.30, Zhong Huandi (CHN) – 31:12.55
20.77s – 1991: Liz McColgan (GBR) – 31:14.31, Zhong Huandi (CHN) – 31:35.08

Smallest winning margins

0.04s – 2001: Derartu Tulu (ETH) – 31:48.81, Berhane Adere (ETH) – 31:48.85
0.08s – 2022: Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) – 30:09.94, Hellen Obiri (KEN) – 30:10.02
0.10s – 2009: Linet Masai (KEN) – 30:51.24, Meselech Melkamu (ETH) – 30:51.34

Best mark by round

Heat — 31:45.95 Derartu Tulu (ETH), 1991
Final — 30:04.18 Berhane Adere (ETH), 2003

Repeat winners

2005/07/13 - Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)
2011/15 - Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN)

Winners by country

• 9 - Ethiopia
• 4 - Kenya
• 1 - Norway
• 1 - Great Britain
• 1 - China
• 1 - Portugal
• 1 - Netherlands
  

Five historic facts

• The 10,000m was added to the World Championships programme in Rome 1987. Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) was the inaugural champion in 31:05.85.
• The women’s 10,000m has been run as a straight final at every World Championships since Seville in 1999.
• Sally Barsosio (KEN) has three notable distinctions: she became the youngest ever medallist in World Championships history, winning bronze in Stuttgart 1993 at the age of 15y/153d. She became the first Kenyan woman to win a world title in Athens 1997 and she remains the event’s youngest champion at 19y/137d.
• Japan’s only medal in this event in World Championships history also dates back to 1997 when Masako Chiba (JPN) won bronze. 
• Ethiopia won a clean sweep for the third time in Budapest in 2023 (also Edmonton in 2001 and Helsinki in 2005) but didn’t win a medal of any colour in the 10,000m in Paris 2024. The only time this had happened previously was in Seoul 1988, the first time the women’s 10,000m was part of the Olympic programme, which Ethiopia boycotted.

Potential storylines

• Can Ethiopia win their 10th title in the 19th edition of the 10,000m at the World Championships?
• Can Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) become just the second athlete after Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) to win back-to-back world 10,000m titles?
• Can Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet (KEN) become the first Kenyan winner of this title since Vivian Cheruiyot in 2015?  
• Can Nadia Battocletti (ITA) be the first Italian medalist in this event in World Championships history?
• Only two of the 29 athletes who competed in the women’s 10,000m at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo feature on the entry-list: Ririka Hironaka (JPN) in seventh, Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) DNF