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EM due to begin ... new Olympic record by beating Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse in a thrilling battle in Beijing.
During a fast race which was stretched from the start, the pair were neck and neck going into the final six laps.
But at the sound of the bell, world champion Dibaba kicked out and held on to win in 29 minutes 54.68 seconds.
America's Shalane Flanagan took the bronze medal while Britain's Jo Pavey came 12th in a new personal best.
The winning time was the second-fastest ever and Pavey, who finished fourth at last year's World Championships, slipped off the main group with 11 laps to go.
"I'm disappointed, you feel like you've made a fool of yourself," Pavey told BBC Sport. "It was such a blistering pace.
"I'm disappointed because my training has been going well in the last year."
Pavey, 34, clocked 31:12.30 and will now concentrate on women's 5,000m heats which start on Tuesday with the final on Friday.
Netherland's Loran Kiplagat, formerly of Kenya, took control early on dragging the runners through the first kilometre in three minutes.
And as the field began to stretch, Abeylegesse bypassed the Dutch pace setter to signal her intent having finished second to Dibaba at last year's World Championships in Osaka.
Her efforts reduced the number of runners in contention to four on a humid evening, but that was cut further to just Abeylegesse and Dibaba with six laps left.
Dibaba, however, was waiting on her rival's shoulder and was merely waiting to strike, taking the lead as the bell sounded.
She then carved out an unassailable gap down the back straight to seal a superb World and Olympic double. She also won the 10,000m in the world championships in 2005.
Britain's Kate Reed, competing in her first Olympics, finished 23rd in 32:26.69 but said she was asked by Team GB to run a time-trial the night before the race in order to prove her fitness.
"I didn't really understand the decision, but I'm new round here," the 25-year-old said afterwards.
(BBC)
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