World record-holder Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia won the women’s 10,000 meters in a wild finish Saturday in the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field.

Four women came off the final turn with a chance to win. Gidey was the first to the finish line, but just barely.

Gidey’s winning time was 30 minutes, 9.94 seconds. Kenyan Hellen Obiri was second in 30:10.02 and fellow Kenyan Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi third in 30:10.07.

Heading around the turn and onto the straight, it looked for all the world like the race was Sifan Hassan’s for the taking.

Hassan, a double gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, was perfectly positioned, just wide enough for a straight, unobstructed shot at the finish line.

But Hassan, who represents the Netherlands, couldn’t sustain her kick. She crossed a close fourth in 30:10.56.

It was a competitive, wicked-fast race. Karissa Schweizer, U.S. champion from the Portland-based, Nike-sponsored Bowerman Track Club, rode in their jet stream to a ninth-place time of 30:18.05, a personal record by nearly 30 seconds.

Hellen Obiri of Kenya (from left), Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi of Kenya stand on the podium after the 10,000 meters women’s final at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Eugene. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The close finish had a large Hayward crowd roaring as the runners fought for the finish line.

“I am so happy about this performance,” Gidey said. “I was thinking about winning this gold since 2019, but Hassan was always there.”

And Hassan, once a member of the Portland-based Nike Oregon Project, is formidable.

Not only did she win gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 last summer in Tokyo, she added a bronze in the 1,500 in what was a freakishly difficult triple, taxing speed, strength and endurance.

But this isn’t that version of Hassan. Exhausted by a sustained, long-term workload that also included gold medals in the 1,500 and 10,000 in the 2019 world championships and the mental strain of the 2020 COVID year, Hassan went on a prolonged vacation after the Olympics.

She said Saturday she still isn’t completely fit.

“I trained so hard for almost two years, and after three races in Tokyo, I was crushed,” Hassan said. “Mentally crushed. Like, I didn’t even care about running. So, I took a break for seven, eight months.”

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands leaves the track after competing during the women’s 10,000-meter final at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

She worked off some of the rust last week by winning the 5,000 meters in the Stumptown Twilight at Portland’s Jesuit High School.

Though she won that race, her winning time of 15:31.41 was pedestrian, at least for her.

On the final straight on Saturday, she didn’t have her killer kick. But she helped make the finish something exciting.

Obiri, 32, almost won the race. It was a strong showing from a runner who declared at the end of the last season she was giving up the track to be a road racer. She was happy with it.

Coming in, she said she was thinking, “if I can get something, I will be OK. I felt no pressure about this race.”

She had some oomph left for the final straight.

“My legs were tired,” she said. “But I said, ‘No. Let me try to get something.’”

Women including Karissa Schweizer (second from left) compete during the women’s 10,000-meter final at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Eugene. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Schweizer ran a gritty race, staying with the front pack most of the way. She didn’t lose contact until the final two laps.

And, really, what isn’t to like about a monumental personal record on the championship stage?

“I really stuck my nose in it,” Schweizer said. “I knew that the pace was above my PR range. I wanted to go out there and try to compete.”

Mission accomplished.

“If the best shape of my life means ninth,” Schweizer said, “than that is what it is today.”