Ayana the star of opening day, Carter shocks Adams

Almaz Ayana's remarkable display in the women's 10,000m left observers staggered as a winning time of 29 minutes, 17.45 seconds was enough to earn victory by over 15 seconds

Published : Aug 13, 2016 09:34 IST , Rio de Janeiro

Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana set a world record in the women’s 10,000 meters.
Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana set a world record in the women’s 10,000 meters.
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Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana set a world record in the women’s 10,000 meters.

Ethiopia's  Almaz Ayana  shocked the world on the opening day of athletics action at Rio 2016, taking more than 14 seconds off the women's 10,000 metre record to claim gold in stunning fashion.

Ayana's remarkable display in the women's 10,000m left observers staggered as a winning time of 29 minutes, 17.45 seconds was enough to earn victory by over 15 seconds, ahead of Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot and two-time reigning champion Tirunesh Dibaba.

Two-time gold medallist  Valerie Adams of New Zealand was surprisingly dethroned as the women's shot put champion as  Michelle Carter  set a new American national record of 20.63m with her final throw to dramatically snatch gold.

"I can't imagine what my mum's doing right now. I can guarantee she's crying," said Carter, expecting the tears to flow following her shock shot put success.

Day one of the heptathlon ended with reigning Olympic champion  Jessica Ennis-Hill  in pole position, 72 points ahead of Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium with Akela Jones and Katarina Johnson-Thompson also in contention. Johnson-Thompson and Thiam each cleared 1.98m in the high jump, a new best for the heptathlon. 

Two-time reigning champion  Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce  was the fastest qualifier from the women's 100m heats, with a time of 10.96 seconds.

Greg Rutherford , the winner of the men's long jump at London 2012, squeezed through to Saturday's final as the 10th-best qualifier, after two no jumps had put him under huge pressure.

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