The Ethiopian and Kenyan women went at it again in another hotly contested race; the women's 5000 meters race at the Olympic Stadium.

The race was again hyped up to be between last year's World Champion Vivian Cheruiyot versus 2008 double Olympic Gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba but Meseret Defar had much to say about that as she would overtake Dibaba who was in the lead in the last 150 meters heading to the finish line. Dibaba who seemed to have run out of gas could not even hold it together to contest for the Silver Medal as Cheruiyot would come through for second place earning her a silver medal for the Games.

Meseret Defar would finish the race in a time of 15:04.25 and Cheruiyot would follow with a time of 15:04.73 and Dibaba would hold on for the Bronze with a time of 15:05.15 a complete sweep for Africa.