Hellen Obiri’s bid to upgrade her 2016 Olympic silver medal to gold in Tokyo went up in smoke after Dutch’s Sifan Hassan outsprinted the reigning champion in the last 200m on Monday night.
Obiri who finished the race limping had tried to control the race until the last 300m, but Hassan who sat behind without taking turns in pacing the race shot to the front.
Kenya’s Agnes Tirop who tried to do most of the front running alongside Obiri finished outside the medal bracket in fourth place as Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay won bronze.
Obiri, who is also the world champion over the distance clocked 14:36.36 for the silver medal with Hassan who had taken a fall earlier in the morning in the 1,500m heats shocked many with her golden run in 14:36.79.
The other Kenyan in the race Lilian Kasait finished in 12th place in 14:55.85.
