Instead, Ethiopians, Kenyans and newly-crowned steeplechase world record holder, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, countered each attempt to pull away.

Going into the last lap, Abeylegesse of Turkey and three Ethiopians were at the front, with the Kenyan team and Russian Liliya Shobukhova trailing.

Tirunesh Dibaba jumped into the lead with the expected chase coming from Meseret Defar, in one of the few head-to-head battles between these two stars.

Through the final turn she caught Defar and swung wide into lane 2 as if to speed past Dibaba.

On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed that Abeylegesse had tested positive for a banned substance at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and that her results from 2007 to 2009, including her Olympic silvers, had been expunged.