The Netherland's Sifan Hassan underlined her status as the best distance runner in the world, as she powered to the 10,000 metre title at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.

The Dutchwoman pulled away from Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey with 400 metres to go and incredibly in the final lap she clocked just 61.5 seconds to finish with a time of 30 minutes and 17.62 seconds.

A seven-woman group showed the early pace, with Kenya's Helen Obiri leading. But Hassan, who ran a season best time, timed her run to perfection and took gold for the first time in the 10,000 metre distance.

The 26-year-old is still yet to decide whether she will race in the 1500 or 5000 metre distance next in these championships. In the shorter distance earlier in the year, Hassan broke the mile world record with a time of four minutes and 12.33 seconds.

In the 50 kilometre race walk, China's Rui Liang took gold to win her country's first ever gold medal in this relatively new event. Maocuo Li made it a Chinese one-two in Qatar with times of 4:23:26 and 4:26:40 respectively.

Italy's Eleonora Anna Giorgi secured an impressive bronze, after taking an early race lead as pace setter. Draped in her country's flag, she was clearly ecstatic after crossing the finishing line.

The conditions were once again punishing and a the heat forced a few athletes to pull out after the start, including defending champion Ines Henriques.