Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana smashed one of the longest-held records in athletics here Friday to win the 10,000m and claim the first gold of the Olympic track and field competition.

The 24-year-old pulled away from the field midway through the race and never let up before powering home in 29min 17.45sec.

Her winning time was nearly 14 seconds quicker than the previous world best over the distance of 29:31.78 set by Wang Junxia in Beijing in 1993.

Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya took silver while defending champion Tirunesh Dibaba took bronze.

Source: AFP