[1] The race featured a number of surprises and upsets, beginning with the withdrawal of the defending champion Dibaba due to a leg injury, replaced by Wude Ayalew.
Konovalova held the point, marked by Nakamura at an even, leisurely pace for this crowd until just after eight laps to go when Linet Masai, who had been hanging around the back of the tight pack made a quick move to the front.
By the end of the lap, 2007 medallist Abeylegesse dropped out of the race and a quintet of runners ( Masai, Melkamu, Defar, Ayalew and Grace Momanyi) had broken away from the rest of the pack.
She wasn't able to make much progress, nor could Melkamu pass her teammate until Defar began to fade, unable to maintain her speed.
Perhaps not noticing, Melkamu prematurely celebrated but Masai was a meter ahead to take the gold medal with a tactically-timed run.