It was July 17, 2015.
I was sitting in the stands in the Stade Louis II, writing up the Herculis meeting, when the field began to assemble for the women’s 1,500m. Chanelle Price, the American 800m runner, took the field through the 800m, hitting 2:07. And with that, Genzebe Dibaba was off and she was unstoppable. Dibaba put four seconds on Sifan Hassan in the last lap. Dibaba held on, running a new World record 3:50.07, a new World record.
Sifan Hassan was inconsolable. She could not believe that anyone could run that far away from her!
Sifan Hassan battles Faith Kipyegon at 1,500m in Florence DL, photo by Diamond League AG
Since then, Sifan Hassan, under the watchful eye of Pete Julian, has run some serious PBs: 1,500m in 3:51.95 (5 Oct 2019), 5000m in 14:22.19 (19 July 2019).
Her world records include One Mile i 4:12.33 (12 July 2019), 10,000m in 29:06.82 (6 June 2021-broken one week later), One Hour of 18,930m (4 Sept 2020) and 5k road (14:44-17 Feb 2019).
Will Sifan Hassan break her PB at 1,500m on 9 July 2021 in Monaco? Can Faith Kipyegon beat her at 1,500m in Monaco?
We will just have to wait!
MONACO (MON): World mile record holder Sifan Hassan, who clocked 4:12.33 in Monaco two years ago to become the fastest ever in the women’s mile, returns to the scene of her triumph this year with sights set once again on middle-distance magic in the 1500m. She has already been in fine form over the distance in the Wanda Diamond League this year, clocking a world lead and meeting record of 3:53.63 in Florence last month. Faith Kipyegon, who finished second despite setting a Kenyan record in that race, will be out for revenge on Friday.
