By the time Dibaba, who returned to form after several seasons of injury by setting the season's fastest time of 30min 24.39sec in June, had reached the bell, the race was effectively over, and Ethiopia's defending 5,000m and 10,000m champion floated over the final 400 metres like the runner of old to finish in a 2012 best of 30:20.75.

Behind her, Cheruiyot slipped back to take bronze in 30:30.44, with her compatriot Sally Kipyego coming through to win silver in 30:26.37.

It was a stupendous sight.

Dibaba's achievement meant she matched her cousin Derartu Tulu in becoming the second woman to win two Olympic gold medals in the women's 10,000m.

It also meant that Kenya have still never won the event.

"I have never been happier," beamed Dibaba.

"I was not even that happy after the [2008] Beijing Olympics.

"It's very special.

"I've worked very hard for this.

"No one has ever done what I did today.

"I've won two 10,000 golds and one 5000m."

Meanwhile, the first Olympic athletics gold medal of 2012 had gone to a man who also already had one in his possession from four years ago in Beijing: Polish shot putter Tomasz Majewski.

Poland's Tomasz Majewski became the first man for 56 years to retain the Olympic shot put title

After David Storl, the 22-year-old German who won the world title with his sixth and last throw last summer, had established a first round lead with a season's best of 21.84 and extended it to 21.86 in the second round, the 6ft 8in, 31-year-old, known as Silent Giant – would you fancy telling him to speak up? – made a big noise as he took over the lead in the third round by just one centimetre.

It was a lead he was never to lose as Storl tried in vain to better his previous efforts.

The German's final throw looked in the region – but he fouled in delivering it, thus delivering the title to the Pole, who finished with a flourish to reach a final best of 21.89.

Bronze went to former world champion Reese Hoffa, whose winning effort of 22.00 at the Samsung Diamond League in Eugene two months ago, is the second furthest managed this season behind the 22.31 achieved by his United States colleague Christian Cantwell, who finished fourth here with 21.19.

Hoffa earned a place on the podium with a third round effort of 21.23.

Majewski is the first non-American to win back-to-back titles, and the first man since Parry O'Brien in 1952 and 1956 to repeat as champion.

"I'm very proud that I did it," said Majewski.

"Yeah, 50 years ago, Pat O'Brien did that and he was legend.

"So I take this.

"Very proud that I do it."

Ennis will be hoping to join them on the top of the podium tomorrow night. 

She took one bold step towards her ambition of earning Olympic gold on home soil here as, to the satisfaction of a capacity crowd of 80,000, she ended the first day of the heptathlon event with a 184 points lead after a day which had begun and ended with personal bests and left her with an overnight score of 4,158 – her highest ever total at this point in a competition.

A concluding effort of 22.83sec in the 200 metres by the 26-year-old Sheffield athlete, 0.05 inside her previous best mark, saw her jump back ahead of the Lithuanian, Austra Skujytė, whose Olympic heptathlon record shot put had enabled her to deprive the Briton of the lead she had established in emphatic fashion with a British record of 12.54 in the opening event, the 100m hurdles.

Jessica Ennis is in a strong position at the end of the first day of the heptathlon following a personal best in the 200m

"I'm so pleased to end the day with that," Ennis said.

"I knew it was a fast track from the hurdles and I'm made up to run a pb.

"I'm still in shock about the hurdles.

"It's been a bit up and down, but two pb's is great.

"It's been amazing.

"The crowd have been unbelievable – they really do lift you.

"When you run round the bend you can hear the roar.

"I'm going to have a really strong day tomorrow with some really strong performances."

Earlier in the evening, Skujytė had finished with a total of 3,974 points ahead of the second day's concluding events of long jump, javelin and 800 metres – all in which Tatyana Chernova, the Russian who beat Ennis to the world title last year, has better personal bests than the Briton.

But Chernova, ninth overnight, will need to perform to her maximum in order to make up the 309 points which separate her from the woman from whom she took the world title in Daegu last summer.

Defending champion Nataliya Dobrynska is even further behind, with a gap of 323 points to close.

Jessica Zelinka of Canada occupies third place overall with 3,903.

Ennis had begun her day in outstanding fashion by smashing her personal best in the 100m hurdles, setting a British record of 12.54 – 0.02 inside the mark set last year by Tiffany Porter – to register a massive opening score of 1,195.

But the Briton produced a solid rather than outstanding performance in her next discipline as she finished equal fifth in the high jump with 1.86 metres – nine centimetres below her personal best.

The second event was won by Skujytė, who reached 1.92 to move into fourth place as the Briton retained her overall lead.

Another surge by the Lithuanian in the third event, the shot put, saw her take overall lead over Ennis with victory in an Olympic heptathlon record of 17.31m to take 1,132 points.

Ennis managed a highly respectable effort of 14.77m – an outdoor personal best by 10cm and only two centimetres off her indoor personal best – to regain momentum, but Skujytė's enormous effort meant she trailed by 64 points, with Germany's Elizabeth Schwarzkopf 115 points behind her in the bronze medal position.

Meanwhile Russia's 21-year-old Kristina Savitskaya, who scored a breakthrough total of 6,681 points in June, had moved up to fourth place, 17 points behind the German, thanks to an identical shot put effort to Ennis.

Skujytė could manage no better than 25.43 – well outside her personal best of 24.82 – in her heat of the final heptathlon event of the day, the 200 metres, which offered Ennis the window of opportunity she required.

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