by Mutwiri Mutuota in berlin

Cinderella’s fairytale may have originated in ancient Greece but Berlin witnessed the perfect rendition of the classic folktale when Linet Chepkwemoi Masai stepped to the podium to accept the women’s 10,000m gold medal.

Kenya’s national anthem was the first to be heard inside Berlin’s Olympiastadion and only the second after Russia’s tune rang out at the historic Brandenburg Gate where the city’s dividing wall fell in 1989 to unite East and West Germany.

Cinderella’s story revolves around a beautiful poor girl who overcame evil machinations of her wicked sisters to find the fitting glass slippers that won her the love of a charming prince and elevated her as the princess of mythical kingdom.

Linet Masai wins Kenya’s first gold medal at the World Championships in Berlin on Saturday. Photo:Reuters

For 12 years, Kenyan female athletes tried all they might to find the fitting spikes to run to the women’s world title. That is until a previously humble 19-year-old from conflict-riddled Mt Elgon District found an awesome burst of energy in the last 20m to scale the heights as the new queen of world 10,000m running in a season best performance of 30:51.4.

"I cannot believe it, I thought I was going to win a medal but I was shocked to win gold. I saw they were slowing down in the last few metres and I decided to push on," the visibly shell-shocked athlete who could not stop smiling said.

"Our plan was to push hard and finish their ability to employ their finishing kick and I’m so happy to win this," the World Cross silver medallist added.

Just like in Cinderella’s tale, her dramatic win ahead of favoured Ethiopian duo of world 5,000m champion, Meseret Defar and Africa titleholder, Meselech Melkamu stoked controversy.

It was claimed the first bunch of runners cut in to the inside lanes too soon at the race’s start and the result was therefore, taken to protest in front of a judging panel although Ethiopia is said not to have launched the inquiry. "The possible scenarios from such cases include the withdrawal of results of affected athletes or in extreme cases, a repetition of the final can be ordered," Anna Legnani, IAAF’s Deputy Communications director, told FeverPitch.

In the end though, Masai stood tall to receive her just reward and just as Cinderella found the fitting glass shoe, Kenya had finally unearthed a female athlete who stepped up to Sally Barsosio’s golden spikes of 1997 in Athens, Greece where the fairytale originated.