No one came close to a world record in the 5,000 metres, but Meseret Defar reclaimed the title she first won eight years ago, as her Ethiopian compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba missed a chance to become the first woman to repeat as double Olympic long-distance champion.

Defar swept past the front-running Dibaba in the final straight and had enough power to hold off Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya. Dibaba, running with a huge blue tape on her inside right thigh, faded toward the end and was unable to produce the kick that gave gold in the 10,000 last week.

Once she crossed the line, Defar produced a religious image of a virgin and child to show to the cameras before breaking down, sobbing into the picture.

After she won at the 2004 Athens Games, Defar has often had to spend time running in shadow of Dibaba. Now the two combined to dominate their fierce rivals from Kenya over the long distance in London.

Ethiopia had already won the women’s marathon in the center of the city last Sunday, and the favored Cheruiyot failed to even get close to her world championship double from last year.

Dibaba was one race away from achieving the long-distance equivalent of what Usain Bolt did over the sprints on Thursday.

Alsi Cakir Alptekin beat Gamze Bulut in a 1-2 finish for Turkey in the Olympic women’s 1,500-metres.

European champion Alptekin, who served a two-year suspension for doping after the 2004 world junior championships, won the gold medal in 4 minutes, 10.23 seconds, and Bulut took silver in 4:10.40. Two-time world champion Maryam Jamal of Bahrain won the bronze medal in 4:10.74.

US runner Morgan Uceny had another tumble at a major meet, crashing to the track at the start of the last lap and failing to finish the final. She was the leading 1,500 runner leading into the world championships last year but fell in the final at Daegu.

Ramon Miller of the Bahamas chased down Angelo Taylor of the United States in the men’s 4x400-metre to win his country’s first gold medal in a relay won by America at every Olympics since 1984.

Miller lifted the Bahamas to a time of 2:56.72, .33 seconds better than the US.

Trinidad and Tobago took third.

The South African team, anchored by double amputee “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius, fell behind well before Pistorius received the baton and finished last.

Taylor, a 400-metre hurdler, was thrust into the line-up after a flurry of injuries hit the Americans. Lashawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner both pulled out before the preliminaries, where Manteo Mitchell ran the last 200 metres of the opening lap with a broken left fibula.

Renaud Lavillenie of France won the pole vault gold medal with an Olympic record also last night.

Lavillenie, the world indoor champion, has been the dominant pole vaulter in 2012 and set a games mark of 5.97 metres during the final.

Bjoern Otto earned silver on a countback from fellow German Raphael Holzdeppe after both cleared 5.91 meters. Holzdeppe had more missed attempts than Otto during the final.

Lavillenie raised the bar to continue jumping after securing the gold medal.