Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse won the women's 10000m gold medal with a superb European leading time of 31.10.24 on Wednesday night.

This race has traditionally been won courtesy of devastating front running performances and now Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse can add her name to a glittering roll of honour which includes Ingrid Kristiansen, Paula Radcliffe and Fernanda Ribeiro.

The damage was done between 4km and 5km when Abeylegesse put in a 3:01km which spread eagled the field. From this point on victory was never in doubt and a European lead time of 31.10.24 in temperatures of 27c, high humidity and a swirling wind has to be respected.

Behind the diminutive Turk, Russia’s Inga Abitova mounted a brave title defence and was rewarded for a patient performance to take silver in 31:22.83.

Portugal’s Jessica Augusto, who was in the silver medal position for much of the race until caught and passed by Abitova on the penultimate lap and had to be satisfied with a place on the bottom rung of the podium in 31:25.77.

For her 25-laps of toil Holland’s former European Cross Country champion Hilda Kibet had to settle for an agonising fourth but at least had the ‘consolation’ of recording a season’s best of 31:36.90.

Turkey’s rising status as a distance running nation was further amplified by the fact Meryem Erdogan, an ex-Ethiopian, finished a brave fifth in a personal best of 31:44.86. The 20-year-old even had the audacity to dispute the lead with her countrywoman in the mid-stages of the gruelling race to suggest she should be one to watch in future.

The tough conditions took its toll on the field and only 13 women from the 18 starters completed with European 5000m record holder Liliya Shobukhova and Portugal’s European Indoor 3000m silver medallist Sara Moreira among the victims.

For Abeylegesse it was a rich reward for a career of near misses. She won 5000m and 10,000m silver medals at the Beijing Olympics, World Championship 10,000m silver in 2007 and 5000m bronze at the 2006 European Championships, but now gold at last – only Turkey’s second ever in European Championship history.

“It was really hard to run because of the wind and finally reach my first gold medal,” she added. “It makes me very proud and very, very happy.”

Abitova explained of her effort: “The most difficult thing was to keep the rhythm. I tried to increase the speed, but to keep patient at the same time. It is tough to run in the humidity. I am satisfied with the silver medal.”

Augusto was similarly pleased: “Abitova caught up with me with 600m to go but I am very happy with a bronze medal my first at a major track and field championships,” added the former European Cross Country champion.

It was Shobukhova, the London Marathon winner, holder, who bolted to the front and took the field through 2km in a steady 6:23.44. Yet any belief that the Russian might pose a genuine medal threat was quickly extinguished as Abeylegesse soon muscled her way to the head of affairs.

The 27-year-old Ethiopian-born athlete then slowly squeezed the life out of her rivals and Shobukhova and Sabrina Mockenhaupt of Germany rapidly dropped off the pace, leaving a group of six, Abeylegesse, Augusto, Moreira, Erdogan, Abitova and Kibet at 4km. Just two-and-a-half laps later it was a very different picture with the eventual gold medal winner having just her 20-year-old team-mate Erdogan for company and the gold medallist hit half distance in 15:42.27. At this point the Portuguese duo – Augusto and Moreira were ten metres back with another sizeable gap back to Abitova and Kibet.

The younger of the two Turkish athletes was unable to live with her more experienced – not to mention quicker - countrywoman and rapidly started to fade.

Abeylegesse meanwhile was churning out laps of 73 and 74 seconds relentlessly and gradually opened a winning lead. Moreira found the pace of the race not to her liking and stepped off the track with ten laps remaining.

Abitova and Kibet quickly passed a struggling Erdogan and the race then assumed a familiar pattern.

Abeylegesse out front, some 60m-70m clear half of Augusto, who held a 25m gap on her Russian and Dutch pursuer.

The long-time leader spent a lot of time obsessively looking back on her rivals, yet she need not have worried she was never likely to be caught.

The battle for the minor medals took on an interesting twist, though, in the latter stages. Abitova broke the resistance of Kibet with two and a half laps to go and hared off in pursuit of Augusto. The plucky Russian smelt blood and kicked past the Portuguese with 500m remaining, the medal order decided.

Abeylegesse never looked totally comfortable in front, she regularly puffed out her cheeks and grimaced, but the victory margin was. As she crossed the line she raised her head skyward and celebrated an utterly deserved then win.

In silver Abitova may have lost her title, but the 2010 London Marathon runner-up, added another medal to her collection and can justifiably be delighted with her performance.

Likewise Augusto, who although denied a silver medal in the later stages, proved with total conviction she can perform with distinction on the track.