by Larry Eder
Tirunesh Dibaba, Beijing Olympics, photograph courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
Tirunesh Dibaba sent a message to Meseret Defar-do not start counting those medals in Berlin yet. Her world leading 5,000 meters, in front of the crowd at Aviva London Grand Prix, was eye opening!
Running from the front most of the way, Dibaba followed Treniere Clement through 1,000 meters in 2:52.32. Dibaba’s sister, Ejegayehu Dibaba lead at 2,000 meters in 5:47.29, and Tirunesh took over at 3,000 meters in 8:47.29 and 4,000 meters in 11:44.83. Running a 2:49 over the last kilometer, with a 60 second last lap, Tirunesh Dibaba put seven seconds on Sentayehu Ejigu of Ethiopia in the last lap!
Tirunesh Dibaba’s final time, 14:33.65 is the world leader. After catching her breath, a bemused Dibaba noted the following: ” I love running at Crystal Palace, It has been a long time since I have run here. The people are very supportive. It was very sunny and slightly windy but very beautiful, its nice to win. My next race will be the world championships. Only God knows how well I will do in Berlin.”
It would not be too far off to think that Tirunesh Dibaba will be ready for racing when Berlin comes, in less than three weeks.
Kim Smith ran a seasonal best of 14:52.49 in third, Jennifer Rhines ran 15:25.10, her seasonal best, in fifth. Full results to follow.
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