by Larry Eder
Spencer WL, Genzebe against the wind, Zhang beats them all
OSLO (NOR, Jun 11): The 50th anniversary of Bislett Games saw World leading mark 2015 in women 400 m hurdles, brave attempt by Genzebe Dibaba in windy conditions at the global 5000 m mark, interesting fight in men high jump which ended with a surprise and exciting situation in Dream Mile where Kiprop won for fourth time and women 1500 m with Muir holding her lead until the end.
Event by Event
Men
200m: Lemaitre gave himself a birthday present by coming through strong to win in 20.21 (-1.2), a good response to an article in Le Dauphine Libere today which was titled, ‘Should we worry about Lemaitre’. Jobodwana held on for second in 20.39 with Kilty running 20.54 for third.
400m: Gardiner blew everybody else away. He ran a storming second bend and was a clear leader heading into the final straight. His winning time of 44.64 was a big PB. Hudson Smith closed well to run 45.09 for second, with Maslak third in 45.39.
Dream Mile: Souleiman followed the fast tempo of the pace makers looking for his third win in a row. But the pack closed on him and it was Kiprop (3:51.45), Kiplagat (3:51.72) and Hannes (3:51.84, EL, Belgian NR) who battled down the home straight for the win. Holusa ran a PB of 3:53.46 in 6th.
3000mSC: Birech made sure there was no sprint finish on this occasion. He ran away from the others to win in 8:05.63. C. Kipruto (8:11.92) and Paul K Koech (8:12.20) were the nearest chasers. Kemboi trailed home 10th in 8:30.07 after stomach problems.
LJ: Rutherford made it back to back wins, jumping 825 (0.0) third attempt to tie up the competition. He passed his final 3 attempts as his mark seemed safe. Hartfield (804, 0.4) and Menkov (800, 2.2) were closest, with triple jumper Taylor managing 793 (-0.6).
HJ: Zhang provided a big upset, clearing 236 on his third attempt to win as the favourites faltered. Fasinotti equalled the Italian record, jumping 233 first attempt to place second. Barshim and Kynard both couldn’t get over 236 and placed joint third. Bondarenko passed that height, but couldn’t make 238, although he had good attempts. He finished 5th.
DT: Urbanek led from the first round. He improved to 63.85 in the third to secure a surprise win. Erik Cadee (62.32) also finished ahead of pre-comp favourites Piotr Malachowski (62.32) and Christoph Harting (62.19).
Women
100m: Ahoure got out best and stayed ahead the whole way, winning in 11.03 (-0.6). VCB closed in the latter stages, but didn’t have enough space, she clocked 11.08.
1500m: Laura Muir broke away from the pack as the only athlete to follow the pacemaker. She ran the last 700m all by herself with the rest of the pack hunting her down. Kipyegon ran a very fast final straight, but she couldn’t catch Muir who dramatically held on to win in 4:00.39 over Kipyegon’s 4:00.94. Seyaum (4:02.90) and Abeba Aregawi (4:03.07) took 3rd and 4th respectively.
5000m: Genzebe Dibaba tried to break her sister’s WR, but she had to do a lot on her own in windy conditions and had to settle for 14:21.29. It was the same top 3 as the Pre Classic 5000m, with Teferi (14:38.57 PB) and Kibiwott (14:40.43) swapping places.
100mH: Rollins started fastest, with Stowers slow to get going. The US record holder led for nearly the whole race, but was just caught at the line by a chasing Stowers. Both were timed at 12.84 (-1.4), the difference was 0.007, 12.833 and 12.840.
400mH: Spencer battled Moline down the home straight and took the win in a world leading 54.15. Moline’s 54.29 for second makes her the second fastest in the world this year. Hejnova continued her comeback with 55.14 in third. Asian champion Kemi Adekoya couldn’t replicate her form from Wuhan, running 55.37.
SP: Schwanitz had 5 legal efforts, all would have been enough to win. Her first round effort of 20.14 has only been beaten by one other athlete this year. She missed meet record only by 12 cm. US record holder Michelle Carter reached a SB of 19.20 in the second round for second.
JT: Dorozhon improved her Israeli NR to 64.56 in the second round to take her first Diamond League win. Viljoen’s 64.36 in second was her best mark since her season opener in Australia. World record holder Spotakova set a SB of 64.10 in third.
TJ: Ibarguen’s win streak was threatened by Koneva last week, but the Russian could only manage 14.36 (-1.2) for 4th today. After improving her best in Prague at the weekend, Bulgaria’s Gabriela Petrova pushed Ibarguen closest; she led at half way with 14.57 (-0.9). Ibarguen reached 14.68 (-0.1) in the fourth round to make it 25 wins on the trot.
