Defending champion, Edna Kiplagat pulled away with 2km left to win the first gold medal of the 2013 World Athletics championships. In the process she became the first woman to retain the world title.

Italy’s Valeria Straneo had led from the very beginning of the race until the 40km mark. In the first 10 km she was slightly ahead of the chasing pack which included three Ethiopians – Aberu Kebede, Meselech Melkamu and Feyse Tedese – and Kenya’s Valentine Kipketer, the Mumbai Marathon champion.

Edna Kiplagat was way behind the leading pack in 15th place. She started to make her move at the 10km mark and by the 15km mark, she had joined the leading group.

By the 35km mark only Straneo and Kiplagat seemed in contention. The rest had fallen of the pace. Kiplagat made her move at the 40km mark and Straneo had no answer as the Kenyan pulled away.

Interestingly, there were no other Kenyans in the top 10. The best Ethiopian was Aberu Kebede in 13th place. The next Kenyan was Lucy Kabuu in 24th place while Valentine Kipketer did not finish. Pre-race favorite Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia did not finish and neither did Meselech Melkamu.

The Italian Valeria Straneo who set a searing early pace may have been trying to mimic the tactics of Dita Tomescu. In 2008 the Romanian took off at a searing pace and was so far ahead that the rest of the field lost contact with her. Indeed Catherine Ndereba of Kenya actually thought she was in the lead as she did not see Tomescu who was far ahead.

Tanui Takes Bronze in 10,000m

Kenya’s plan going into the race was to set a searing pace and vary the speed constantly. This was seen as the best way to beat pre-race favourite, Mo Farah. Farah has a devastating closing speed and a slow race favours him.

However only Paul Tanui seemed to be on the program and git very little help from his team-mates. Tanui was on his own for most of the race setting the pace. In the end he was rewarded with a bronze medal. The 23 year old Tanui has a bright future ahead of him.