Dibaba romps to Great Edinburgh International Cross Country win

DOUBLE Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba stormed through the snow to take victory at the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country.

LEADING LADY: Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba storms to victory at the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country (Getty Images)

The Olympic 5000m and 10,000, champion, hot favourite before the race, made a surging break in the final lap in Holyrood Park to romp to victory on the snow-covered track.

"The snow made it very difficult for me," said Dibaba. "But I'm very happy to win here."

Great Britain's Hayley Yelling won a sprint finish with compatriot Steph Twell to take fourth, while silver went to Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot and Dibaba's fellow Ethopian Kalkidan Gezahegn secured bronze.

Yelling, much like she did on her way to the European Cross Country title in Dublin last month, set the pace in the early stages of the race, storming ahead from the gun.

The 35-year-old, who had only come out of retirement a month before her victory in the Irish capital, was joined in a six-strong leading pack by Twell, Cheruiyot, Dibaba, another Brit Jessica Sparke, who took under-23 bronze in Dublin and Gezahegn.

Twell, the world junior 1500m champion and three-time European junior cross-country champion, was favourite for the under-23 title in Dublin but she disappointed and could only finish 11th.

But the 20-year-old, competing on home soil for the first time since switching allegiances to Scotland last July, produced a much-improved performance and led the leading pack as the bell sounded for the final lap.

But it was at that stage that Dibaba took control and she extended her lead in the closing stages of the 5.8km race to cross the line in 21.36 minutes and complete an emphatic victory.

Cheruiyot came out on top in a sprint finish with Gezahegn to take silver, a second ahead of her Ethopian rival, while Yelling edged out Twell for fourth place.   

"I definitely didn't want to lose that sprint finish, so I'm pretty pleased to finish fourth," added Yelling. "It was very tough out there, it was like running on mud or even sand."