Olympics: Dibaba's pace leaves Pavey dismayed with best 10,000m

Tirunesh Dibaba after winning gold in the women's 10,000m at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, Beijing. Photograph: Valery Hache/AFP

Britain's women were left frustrated last night after the Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba powered her way to gold in the 10,000 metres. Dibaba added the Olympic crown to her two world titles with a stirring performance in 29min 54.66sec, beating Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, second in 29:56.54, with Shalane Flanagan, of the United States, third in 30:22.22. Britain's Jo Pavey was 12th in a personal best time of 31:12.30.

But back in 23rd place in 32:26.69 another Briton, Kate Reed, claimed she had been made to run a 2,000m time-trial 24 hours before this Olympic final. Reed said: "I have been having troubles with my fitness and pain in my calf - at one point I had my flight home booked - but I was all set to race and then last night the team booked a time-trial for me to test my fitness. I don't understand why they made me do it. I am new to international athletics, so I just gritted my teeth and got on with it. But it took so much out of me and today there was nothing in my legs."

But a Team GB spokesman said: "The athlete was given a pain-killing injection and asked to run 2,000m, at a reasonable pace, agreed with her coach, yesterday. This was to confirm that she could perform in the race and that the injections would work."

Even Pavey's personal best did nothing to lift her own spirits. She said: "It's very tough and it's easy to feel like I've made a fool of myself. I feel so disappointed, even though I ran a personal best, but it was just such a blistering pace. I have probably got to learn a bit, I wasn't ready for that."

Andy Baddeley progressed into the semi-finals of the 1500m and will not let go of his belief that he can win a medal in a wide-open competition. The British No1, who won The Dream Mile in Oslo earlier this year, ran a superbly controlled race in the first-round heats. He timed his performance perfectly, staying at the back of the pack before moving through to qualify in third place in 3:36.47 as Juan van Deventer won in 3:36.32.

"There is no outright favourite but at the moment I am only in the semis and there is a long way to go," said Baddeley. "It felt good and I'm really pleased with that. There has been a lot of waiting and that has been quite nerve-racking but once I got out there I felt really good." His British team-mate Tom Lancashire is out after he finished 11th in his heat in 3:43.40.

Bekele storms to 10,000m victory

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Video - Bekele storms to 10,000m gold

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele won the men's 10,000m gold, creating an Olympic record of 27 minutes 1.17 seconds, as compatriot Sileshi Sihine took silver.

Micah Kogo of Kenya secured bronze, but Ethiopian veteran Haile Gebrselassie could only finish sixth, ending his dream of a third Olympic gold medal.

Bekele, 26, controlled the last lap before powering home by a distance to clinch his second Olympic gold medal.

It is the fourth successive major title for the three-times world champion.

Bekele is also considering an appearance in the 5,000m but will decide after Sunday's race.

"It's was a very big goal for me to win this title - my dreams have come true to win tonight," said Bekele.

"The race was fantastic, there was no pacemaker and everyone was pushing. No-one could push any harder.

"It is a big gift. I will now try to run the 5,000 metres. It is not easy to run the two events. It will be a strong race."