Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba put injury woes behind her by retaining her Olympic women's 10,000 crown in majestic style in the first track title to be decided at the London Games on Friday.

Dibaba, 26, has hardly competed at the longest track event since winning the 5,000 and 10,000 double in Beijing but put her injury hit years behind her to take gold in 30 minutes, 20.75 seconds.

Known as the "baby-faced destroyer", Dibaba burst clear at the bell and quickly put distance between herself and chasing Kenyan duo Sally Kipyego and Vivian Cheruiyot.

Kipyego took silver in 30:26.37 with double world champion Cheruiyot, never in a position to utilise her feared finishing kick, coming home third in 30:30.44.

Dibaba was the first to win back to back titles over the distance and has emulated her cousin Derartu Tulu (1992 and 2000) to become the second woman to win two Olympic golds in the 10,000.

Draped in an Ethiopian flag, she celebrated with a lap of the track alongside team mates Werknesh Kidane (fourth) and Beleynesh Oljira (fifth).

Silver and bronze were Kenya's first medals since the 10,000 was introduced for women at the 1988 Games in Seoul. 

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