Defar wins 5,000 at world championships

Osaka:

Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, the world record holder, won the women's 5,000 in 14 minutes, 57.91 seconds on Saturday at the track and field world championships.

Kenyans picked up silver and bronze with Vivian Cheruiyot finishing second in 14:58.50 and Priscah Jepleting Cherono third in 14:59.21.

The Ethiopians swept the first four positions at Helsinki in 2005, but lost some depth when Tirunesh Dibaba decided against defending her title. She complained of stomach spasms during her successful defense of the 10,000 title here.

Japan's Kayoko Fukushi led for almost three kilometers with Defar right behind her until Cheruiyot took the lead with five laps to go.

Defar took up the front running with two laps to go and kicked with 200 meters to go to hold off the late challenges.