Tirunesh Dibaba completed part three of what was not only a great day for Ethiopia but a great day for the Dibaba family this afternoon as she reclaimed her World Cross Country crown in thrilling style.

Dibaba’s victory over the 8km race means she joins USA’s Lynn Jennings and her cousin, Derartu Tulu, as a winner of three long course titles following her previous victories in 2005 and 2006. With her short course win in 2005 and the junior title in 2004, she now joins Grete Waitz of Norway with five individual golds from these championships, and Worknesh Kidane as a winner of eight individual medals.

Together with all her team titles, Dibaba has now won 14 World Cross Country golds altogether, more than any other athlete. And she’s still only 22.

Taking inspiration from her younger sister Genzebe, the 17-year-old who won the junior race just an hour earlier, Dibaba shrugged off any doubts about her fitness in the final 400m of a gruelling race to leap from fourth to first on the craggy hillside of Haggis Knowe, before unleashing her trademark finishing kick that brought her home over the soggy mud in 25:10, five seconds ahead of her teammate Mestawet Tufa.