Embedded Files
EUGENE -- As Asbel Kiprop, a 2014 Prefontaine Classic headliner, faded with 150 meters to go so did many hopes of a fast time in the Bowerman Mile.
Then little-known Ayanleh Souleiman charged into the lead and into the record books with the fastest mile ever run in the United States.
His time of 3 minutes, 47.32 seconds broke, by nearly a second, a seven-year-old meet record to set a Diamond League record and new world-leading time -- one of 13 world-leading marks set at the Pre this weekend.
"My dream was 3:47 or 3:48," said Souleiman, 21, the native of Djibouti whose Bowerman races the past two years had each finished in 3:50, agonizingly close to breaking a mental barrier without hitting his dream mark.
This time around, he had the time of his life.
"I'm happy today," he said.
Though he won bronze in the 2013 world championships at 1,500 meters and won gold at world indoors this winter, Souleiman isn't a household name in the track community on the level of Kiprop. It made the upset all the more stunning.
Kiprop entered with a resume that included the 2008 Olympic 1,500-meter gold medal, the 2013 world championship at 1,500 meters and a past run of five straight sub-3:50 Bowerman Miles. In the past year, however, he'd shown vulnerabilities. He was beaten by Silas Kiplagat at this meet a year ago and in November he was hospitalized after sustaining injuries in a car accident.
With a shrug of his shoulders, the perilously thin 6-foot-2 Kenyan said neither affected his fade into seventh Saturday, in a time of 3:50.26.
"I was expecting to run close to 3:47 and unfortunately it wasn't my day," said Kiprop, whose personal best in the mile is 3:48.50. "I don't know, I wasn't comfortable. In the last 200 I wasn't responding. I think this is due to that we came from the World Relays last weekend and came straight here."
Kiprop was second through 800 meters and first after the pacesetter stepped away one lap later at the bell. Kiplagat rushed to a three-meter lead with 200 meters to go before Kiprop took it back nearly instantly and looked as though he'd continue to stretch his lead with his giant strides.
By 150 meters to go, though, his lead was swallowed up by a charging Souleiman. Kiplagat was second in a personal-best 3:47.88. The pace was so fast an Ethiopian national record was only good enough for third for Aman Wote, whose 3:48.60 time was nearly five seconds better than the world-leading time he entered the day with.
Former Oregon star and 2013 world 1,500-meter silver medalist Matthew Centrowitz was eighth and satisfied. His time of 3:50.53 was a personal best by more than a second. Centrowitz's next meet is in two weeks in Oslo, Norway.
"I fell back in the third lap but I had a nice little straightway," Centrowitz said. "Anytime you have a PB it's good but I obviously was expecting a lot more of myself."
The fifth year of the IAAF Diamond League
produced the best-ever editions of eight of
the 14 member meets, with another five recording
their 2nd highest score in history.
Among those achieving No. 1 status was
the 40th Prefontaine Classic, whose 95,058
points on the All-Athletics.com scale ranks
as the 3rd best total of all-time by any
meet. Only this year’s Monaco and Brussels
IDL meets have ever scored higher.
For the stat geeks in the audience, the
breakdown of points for the top four meets
is as follows: In Result Score (quality of
performances), Monaco was first with one
of the truly great meets of all-time; Pre
was 2nd, Brussels 3rd, and Zurich 6th. In
Participation Score (number of top-ranked
athletes competing), Zurich and Brussels-
-both Diamond League Finals where the
top athletes must compete to win bonuses--
ranked Nos. 1 and 2. Pre was No. 3 and
Monaco No. 6. Combining the Result and
Participation Scores, Monaco had a total
of 95,486, Brussels 95,267, Pre 95,058, and
Zurich 94,531.
Overall, the best edition ever of the Prefontaine
Classic and the best season ever
for the IAAF Diamond League.
EUGENE: RECORDS FALL TO RUPP AND PERKOVIC
EUGENE: RECORDS FALL TO RUPP AND PERKOVIC
May 31, 2014
With almost everyone's eyes fixated on the clock on Friday (30) on the eve of the main competition programme for the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Galen Rupp remained focused on competing, unmoved by time.
Photo: © Kirby Lee
That is until the final two laps.
With 800 meters remaining and sensing the fatigue in his competition, the 28-year-old Olympic silver medallist lowered the boom, clicking off two impressive final quarters to win the men's 10,000m in 26:44.36, shattering his US record and drawing roaring approval from the Hayward Field crowd on the opening night of competition at the 40th edition of the Prefontaine Classic.
Rupp's time bettered his mark of 26:48.00 from Brussels in 2011 and stands as the second-fastest time ever run on US soil. Only world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia has ever run faster here, clocking his all-comers record of 26:25.97 here in 2008.
"Honestly I wasn’t really looking at time until a quarter mile to go, the last lap," Rupp said. "I was just really worried about competing. We didn’t just want to think about this as an opportunity to run fast. It really was about competing. I was happy with that first and foremost and then the time on top of that was a great way to finish."
The IAAF Diamond League portion of the meeting kicked off with field events that saw Croatia's Sandra Perkovic continue her domination of the women's discus, Serbia's Ivana Spanovic setting a world lead in the women's long jump, and USA’s Reese Hoffa score his third straight victory at this meeting in the men's shot put. But Rupp's performance was the highlight of Distance Night, which has become the precursor to Saturday's main program.
The race unfolded as primarily a four-man affair between Rupp, Paul Tanui, the world bronze medallist who ran 26:50.63 here in 2011, Bedan Karoki, who finished third in this race in 2012 which doubled as Kenya’s Olympic Trials, and Stephen Sambu, who was only asked on Wednesday to serve as a pacemaker.
The early pace saw consistent 63-second laps and the leaders come through the halfway point in 13:26.44. But when the primary pacers stepped off the track, the pace began sagging. With 800 meters remaining, Rupp decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
"I could tell the pace was starting to slow down a bit and I thought those guys might be getting tired so I decided to just go for it and see where I was," Rupp said. "I honestly was surprised with how strong I was. I didn’t know what to expect."
Rupp, who revealed that his wife is pregnant with twins, closed with laps of 59.4 and 58.5. Tanui finished second in 26:49.41, Karoki was third in 26:52.36 and Sambu stayed on and finished fourth in 26:54.61. The times for all three of those men were personal bests.
Rupp's coach, Alberto Salazar, was pleased with the performance.
"His training has been going really well," Salazar said. "It's been high mileage, more 10km based or focused rather than 5km. More volume, longer intervals, more geared towards 10km than 5km. We're kind of leaving that until later in the season. We knew this might be his last chance at a 10km this season so we decided to go for it here. Looking at how he ran, I think in the ideal race and circumstances he can run 10 seconds faster than he did tonight."
Perkovic continues whirl-wind tour
World and Olympic champion Perkovic continued to prove that she has no peer in the women's discus, scoring another dominant victory to push her Diamond Race point total to eight. She led the competition from her opening throw, but it wasn't until her sixth and final attempt that she was able to master the fast throwing surface and get the platter out to 69.32m, which broke her meeting record of 66.92m from 2012.
Perkovic's closest competitor was Germany's Shanice Craft, who finished second at 65.38m, a personal best. USA’s Gia Lewis-Smallwood finished third at 64.98m.
"The conditions were good, but I had some trouble in the circle," Perkovic said. "It was so fast and I needed four or five attempts to manage how to control the circle. On the final attempt I finally got it and was able to throw 69.32m, which is my third-best result ever.”
Spanovic comes up Diamonds late in long jump
Close competitions are nothing new to Spanovic. Prevailing in one, however, is a new experience.
The 24-year-old rallied from fifth place and into podium position in the fourth round, and on her final jump cleared 6.88m to set a Serbian outdoor record and tie the world lead.
Spanovic's mark equalled the third-round jump of Russia's Darya Klishina, who came into the meeting having jumped the same distance in Tokyo on May 11, but she was awarded the victory by virtue of the better second jump, the 6.86m she jumped in round four. With the victory, Spanovic moved into the Diamond Race lead with six points.
Spanovic found herself in a similar predicament in her IAAF Diamond League opener in Shanghai when she wound up finishing behind Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, 6.86m to 6.85m. Spanovic said that experience helped her remain calm.
"I definitely felt like I had the experience I needed," Spanovic said. "This was very exciting because all of the greatest jumpers in the world were here, so I must be proud of my win."
Hoffa is big shot once again
It took him a while to get going, but once he did Hoffa let fly with the throw he was waiting for in the fifth round, surging into the lead with a season’s best of 21.64m for a record-tying fourth victory at this meeting.
US throwers took the next two podium spots as well as Joe Kovacs unleashed a sixth-round throw of 21.46m. Christian Cantwell, who had led from the second round, wound up third with a sixth throw of 21.38m. Cantwell remains the Diamond Race leader with five points while Hoffa and Kovacs are tied for second with four points each.
Hoffa said it took him a while to get going, partly because he is still trying to master a tweak he made to his technique after injuring his knee at the Kansas Relays in April, and due to the anxiety of competing against a world-class field, even one thinned by the injuries to two-time world indoor champion Ryan Whiting of the US and double world champion David Storl of Germany.
"When you have Christian, who has the world-leading mark at 21.84m, it gives you that little bit of like, 'I gotta push. You never know when he is going to let one fly'," Hoffa said. " And you've got Tomasz [Majewski]. Then you've got Joe [Kovacs] who at Arizona had a throw of 22.40m, so I know he's got the horsepower. You're always going to be anxious when you have top-tier talent."
Joe Battaglia for the IAAF and the IAAF Diamond League
Pre has this year scored the most points since joining the Diamond league
Pl.CompetitionCountryDateResult
ScoreParticipation
ScoreWRCompetition
1.Eugene Prefontaine Classic USA 30.05 - 31.05 86808 (1.) 8250 (1.) 95058
2.Lausanne Athletissima SUI 03.07 86523 (2.) 7750 (2.) 94273
3.Roma Golden Gala ITA 05.06 85388 (3.) 7680 (3.) 93068
Men's 100m Wind: +2.7 Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Justin GATLIN USA 82 9.76 1275 2. Michael RODGERS USA 85 9.80 1260 3. Jimmy VICAUT FRA 92 9.89 1229 4. Nesta CARTER JAM 85 9.89 1229 5. Nickel ASHMEADE JAM 90 9.95 1208 6. Maurice MITCHELL USA 89 10.04 1177 7. Peimeng ZHANG CHN 87 10.08 1163 8. Simon MAGAKWE RSA 86 10.13 1146 Men's 400m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Kirani JAMES GRN 92 43.97 1252 WL 2. LaShawn MERRITT USA 86 43.97 1252 WL 3. Youssef Ahmed MASRAHI KSA 87 44.77 1196 SB 4. Christopher BROWN BAH 78 45.15 1169 SB 5. Josh MANCE USA 92 45.31 1158 SB 6. Martyn ROONEY GBR 87 45.52 1144 SB 7. Tony MCQUAY USA 90 46.25 1095 - Lalonde GORDON TTO 88 DNF Men's 800m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Nijel AMOS BOT 94 1:43.63 1216 WL 2. Mohammed AMAN ETH 94 1:43.99 1204 SB 3. Abubaker KAKI SUD 89 1:44.09 1201 SB 4. Pierre-Ambroise BOSSE FRA 92 1:44.44 1191 SB 5. Adam KSZCZOT POL 89 1:44.65 1184 SB 6. Marcin LEWANDOWSKI POL 87 1:44.79 1180 SB 7. David RUDISHA KEN 88 1:44.87 1177 SB 8. Andrew OSAGIE GBR 88 1:45.37 1162 SB 9. Alfred KIPKETER KEN 96 1:46.15 1139 10. Duane SOLOMON USA 84 1:47.40 1101 - Bram SOM NED 80 DNF Men's International 800m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Job KINYOR KEN 90 1:44.70 1183 2. Elijah GREER USA 90 1:45.30 1164 SB 3. Erik SOWINSKI USA 89 1:45.64 1154 4. Wesley VÁZQUEZ PUR 94 1:45.73 1151 5. Mukhtar MOHAMMED GBR 90 1:46.74 1121 SB 6. Charles JOCK USA 89 1:46.84 1118 7. Michael RUTT USA 87 1:47.25 1106 8. Michael RIMMER GBR 86 1:49.55 1039 9. Tyler MULDER USA 87 1:51.07 996 - Harun ABDA USA 90 DNF Men's Bowerman Mile Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Ayanleh SOULEIMAN DJI 92 3:47.32 1236 WL, PB 2. Silas KIPLAGAT KEN 89 3:47.88 1228 PB 3. Aman WOTE ETH 84 3:48.60 1219 PB 4. Abdelaati IGUIDER MAR 87 3:49.09 1213 PB 5. James Kiplagat MAGUT KEN 90 3:49.43 1208 PB 6. Collins CHEBOI KEN 87 3:49.56 1207 PB 7. Asbel KIPROP KEN 89 3:50.26 1197 SB 8. Matthew CENTROWITZ USA 89 3:50.53 1194 PB 9. Johan CRONJE RSA 82 3:50.70 1192 PB 10. Bethwell BIRGEN KEN 88 3:51.12 1186 SB 11. Taoufik MAKHLOUFI ALG 88 3:52.16 1173 PB 12. Mekonnen GEBREMEDHIN ETH 88 3:53.22 1159 SB 13. Henrik INGEBRIGTSEN NOR 91 3:53.62 1154 PB 14. Will LEER USA 85 3:56.72 1115 SB - Andrew Kiptoo ROTICH KEN 87 DNF - Hillary Kipkorir MAIYO KEN 93 DNF Men's International Mile Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Leonel MANZANO USA 84 3:52.41 1170 SB 2. Jordan MCNAMARA USA 87 3:52.89 1164 SB 3. Evan JAGER USA 89 3:53.33 1158 PB 4. Patrick CASEY USA 90 3:53.71 1153 PB 5. Garrett HEATH USA 85 3:53.76 1152 SB 6. Ryan GREGSON AUS 90 3:53.85 1151 SB 7. David TORRENCE USA 85 3:53.95 1150 SB 8. Fouad EL KAAM MAR 88 3:54.21 1147 PB 9. Lopez LOMONG USA 85 3:54.28 1146 SB 10. Charlie GRICE GBR 93 3:56.94 1112 SB 11. Ciaran O'LIONAIRD IRL 88 3:57.99 1099 SB 12. Andrew BAYER USA 90 3:59.76 1077 SB 13. Blake HANEY USA 96 4:10.41 950 SB - Matt MINER USA 90 DNF - Daniel Kipchirchir KOMEN KEN 84 DNS - Paul ROBINSON IRL 91 DNF Men's 5000m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Caleb Mwangangi NDIKU KEN 92 13:01.71 1203 WL, PB 2. Yenew ALAMIREW ETH 90 13:02.91 1199 SB 3. Edwin Cheruiyot SOI KEN 86 13:04.92 1192 SB 4. Albert ROP BRN 92 13:06.12 1187 SB 5. Isiah Kiplangat KOECH KEN 93 13:07.55 1182 SB 6. John KIPKOECH KEN 91 13:11.02 1170 7. Hagos GEBRHIWET ETH 94 13:13.19 1162 8. Augustine Kiprono CHOGE KEN 87 13:14.23 1158 SB 9. Chris DERRICK USA 90 13:15.55 1153 10. Hassan MEAD USA 89 13:19.57 1139 11. Ben TRUE USA 85 13:25.11 1119 12. Collis BIRMINGHAM AUS 84 13:27.17 1112 13. Antonio ABADÍA BECI ESP 90 13:30.91 1099 PB 14. Bernard LAGAT USA 74 13:31.23 1098 SB 15. Juan Luis BARRIOS MEX 83 13:43.12 1057 SB 16. Girma MECHESO USA 88 13:45.25 1049 SB 17. Ryan HILL USA 90 13:57.12 1009 - Cameron LEVINS CAN 89 DNF - Andrew BUMBALOUGH USA 87 DNF - German FERNANDEZ USA 90 DNF - Gideon GATHIMBA KEN 80 DNF Men's 10,000m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Galen RUPP USA 86 26:44.36 1251 WL, AR 2. Paul Kipngetich TANUI KEN 90 26:49.41 1243 PB 3. Bitan KAROKI KEN 90 26:52.36 1238 PB 4. Stephen SAMBU KEN 88 26:54.61 1235 PB 5. Emmanuel Kipkemei BETT KEN 83 27:21.61 1192 SB 6. Kenneth Kiprop KIPKEMOI KEN 84 27:30.94 1177 SB 7. El Hassan EL ABBASSI BRN 84 27:32.96 1174 PB 8. Teklemariam MEDHIN ERI 89 27:38.83 1165 SB 9. Birhan NEBEBEW ETH 94 27:42.89 1158 SB 10. Timothy TOROITICH UGA 91 27:43.27 1158 SB 11. Goitom KIFLE ERI 93 27:43.30 1158 SB 12. Bouabdellah TAHRI FRA 78 27:57.52 1136 SB 13. Samuel CHELANGA KEN 85 27:59.74 1132 SB 14. Leonard KORIR KEN 86 28:01.85 1129 SB 15. Wilson Kiprono TOO KEN 91 28:03.21 1127 PB - Aaron BRAUN USA 87 DNF - Yigrem DEMELASH ETH 94 DNF - Mike Kipruto KIGEN KEN 86 DNF - Ben ST. LAWRENCE AUS 81 DNF - Dawit WOLDE ETH 91 DNF - Mumin GALA DJI 86 DNS Men's 110mH Wind: +0.8 Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Pascal MARTINOT-LAGARDE FRA 91 13.13 1225 WL 2. Hansle PARCHMENT JAM 90 13.20 1212 3. David OLIVER USA 82 13.21 1210 SB 4. Ryan WILSON USA 80 13.25 1202 SB 5. Sergey SHUBENKOV RUS 90 13.29 1194 SB 6. Ashton EATON USA 88 13.35 1183 PB 7. Jeff PORTER USA 85 13.43 1168 8. Jason RICHARDSON USA 86 13.64 1128 SB Men's Pole Vault Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Renaud LAVILLENIE FRA 86 5.80 1212 2. Augusto DUTRA BRA 90 5.63 1165 SB 3. Jan KUDLIČKA CZE 88 5.63 1165 SB 4. Raphael HOLZDEPPE GER 89 5.53 1138 SB 5. Konstantinos FILIPPIDIS GRE 86 5.53 1138 5. Brad WALKER USA 81 5.53 1138 SB 7. Thiago BRAZ BRA 93 5.43 1110 SB 8. Changrui XUE CHN 91 5.43 1110 8. Malte MOHR GER 86 5.43 1110 Men's Triple Jump Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Wind Score 1. Will CLAYE USA 91 17.66 +0.8 1231 PB 2. Christian TAYLOR USA 90 17.42 +2.6 1194 3. Lyukman ADAMS RUS 88 17.29 +1.4 1188 SB 4. Ernesto REVÉ CUB 92 17.06 +2.0 1159 5. Alexey FEDOROV RUS 91 16.72 +1.9 1124 SB 6. Chris CARTER USA 89 16.71 +3.1 1116 7. Bin DONG CHN 88 16.65 +2.1 1115 8. Benjamin COMPAORÉ FRA 87 16.57 +1.5 1110 SB 9. Daniele GRECO ITA 89 16.33 -0.1 1093 SB - Christian TAYLOR USA 90 16.80 +1.7 1133 SB - Chris CARTER USA 89 16.65 +1.8 1117 - Bin DONG CHN 88 16.09 +0.8 1064 Men's Javelin Throw Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Vítězslav VESELÝ CZE 83 83.75 1146 2. Andreas THORKILDSEN NOR 82 80.52 1101 SB 3. Dmitriy TARABIN RUS 91 80.28 1097 4. Petr FRYDRYCH CZE 88 78.86 1077 5. Thomas RÖHLER GER 91 78.63 1074 6. Kim AMB SWE 90 77.36 1056 7. Keshorn WALCOTT TTO 93 75.50 1030 8. Sam HUMPHREYS USA 90 73.60 1003 Men's Shot Put Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Reese HOFFA USA 77 21.64 1219 SB 2. Joe KOVACS USA 89 21.46 1208 3. Christian CANTWELL USA 80 21.38 1203 4. Kurt ROBERTS USA 88 20.71 1163 5. Tomasz MAJEWSKI POL 81 20.59 1156 6. Tom WALSH NZL 92 20.51 1151 7. Germán Luján LAURO ARG 84 20.09 1126 8. Ladislav PRÁŠIL CZE 90 18.92 1056 Women's 200m Wind: +1.5 Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Tori BOWIE USA 90 22.18 1210 WL, PB 2. Blessing OKAGBARE NGR 88 22.23 1205 PB 3. Allyson FELIX USA 85 22.44 1183 SB 4. Murielle AHOURE CIV 87 22.61 1165 SB 5. Kimberlyn DUNCAN USA 91 22.66 1160 6. English GARDNER USA 92 22.81 1145 SB 7. Jeneba TARMOH USA 89 22.88 1138 8. Shelly-Ann FRASER-PRYCE JAM 86 23.06 1119 Women's 400m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Novlene WILLIAMS-MILLS JAM 82 50.40 1189 2. Francena MCCORORY USA 88 50.53 1184 3. Stephenie Ann MCPHERSON JAM 88 50.63 1180 4. Natasha HASTINGS USA 86 50.67 1179 SB 5. Amantle MONTSHO BOT 83 50.73 1176 6. Sanya RICHARDS-ROSS USA 85 51.19 1158 SB 7. Joanna ATKINS USA 89 51.48 1147 8. Libania GRENOT ITA 83 51.83 1133 SB Women's National 800m Section 1 Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Justine FEDRONIC FRA 91 2:01.50 1127 SB 2. Jessica JUDD GBR 95 2:02.28 1113 SB 3. Diane CUMMINS CAN 74 2:02.64 1107 4. Helen CROFTS CAN 90 2:02.74 1105 5. Phoebe WRIGHT USA 88 2:03.37 1094 6. Rachel FRANCOIS CAN 92 2:04.55 1074 7. Hillary HOLT USA 92 2:06.00 1049 PB 8. Gabriele GRUNEWALD USA 86 2:06.77 1036 SB 9. Selma KAJAN AUS 91 2:07.34 1027 10. Chunyu WANG CHN 95 2:10.47 975 SB - Dana MECKE USA 87 DNF Women's National 800m Section 2 Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Chanelle PRICE USA 90 2:00.38 1146 2. Maggie VESSEY USA 81 2:00.48 1145 3. Melissa BISHOP CAN 88 2:00.52 1144 SB 4. Heather KAMPF USA 87 2:00.65 1142 SB 5. Angelika CICHOCKA POL 88 2:00.90 1137 SB 6. Geena GALL USA 87 2:01.15 1133 7. Jemma SIMPSON GBR 84 2:01.50 1127 SB 8. Mary CAIN USA 96 2:02.31 1112 SB 9. Jessica SMITH CAN 89 2:03.28 1096 10. Christina RODGERS USA 88 2:03.40 1094 - Shannon LEINERT USA 87 DNF Women's 1500m Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Hellen OBIRI KEN 89 3:57.05 1229 WL, PB 2. Abeba AREGAWI SWE 90 3:57.57 1225 SB 3. Faith Chepngetich KIPYEGON KEN 94 3:58.01 1222 SB 4. Jenny SIMPSON USA 86 3:58.28 1219 PB 5. Sifan HASSAN NED 93 3:59.38 1210 PB 6. Eunice Jepkoech SUM KEN 88 4:01.54 1193 PB 7. Brenda MARTINEZ USA 87 4:02.52 1185 SB 8. Laura WEIGHTMAN GBR 91 4:02.72 1184 PB 9. Zoe BUCKMAN AUS 88 4:04.09 1173 PB 10. Treniere MOSER USA 81 4:04.74 1168 SB 11. Siham HILALI MAR 86 4:05.46 1162 SB 12. Hannah ENGLAND GBR 87 4:07.40 1147 SB 13. Elise CRANNY USA 96 4:13.38 1100 - Phoebe WRIGHT USA 88 DNF Women's 2 Miles Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Mercy CHERONO KEN 91 9:13.27 1190 WL, PB 2. Viola Jelagat KIBIWOT KEN 83 9:13.48 1190 PB 3. Mimi BELETE BRN 88 9:13.85 1189 ABP 4. Shannon ROWBURY USA 84 9:20.25 1168 ABP 5. Sally KIPYEGO KEN 85 9:22.10 1162 PB 6. Belaynesh OLJIRA ETH 90 9:23.32 1158 PB 7. Margaret Wangari MURIUKI KEN 86 9:24.89 1153 PB 8. Betsy SAINA KEN 88 9:26.63 1148 PB 9. Jordan HASAY USA 91 9:35.05 1122 PB 10. Buze DIRIBA ETH 94 9:40.01 1106 PB 11. Maryam Yusuf JAMAL BRN 84 9:40.04 1106 PB 12. Renata PLIŚ POL 85 9:42.23 1099 PB 13. Chelsea REILLY USA 89 9:42.51 1098 PB 14. Laura THWEATT USA 88 9:44.46 1092 PB 15. Brianna FELNAGLE USA 86 9:54.61 1062 PB 16. Betlhem DESALEGN UAE 91 10:06.84 1025 PB - Anne KESSELRING GER 89 DNF - Heather KAMPF USA 87 DNF Women's 400mH Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Kaliese SPENCER JAM 87 54.29 1195 WL 2. Kori CARTER USA 92 55.22 1166 3. Tiffany WILLIAMS USA 83 55.97 1143 4. Shevon STODDART JAM 82 56.15 1137 5. Denisa ROSOLOVÁ CZE 86 56.45 1128 SB 6. Yadisleidy PEDROSO ITA 87 56.66 1121 SB 7. Dalilah MUHAMMAD USA 90 58.89 1054 8. Georganne MOLINE USA 90 1:00.86 997 Women's 3000mSC Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Sofia ASSEFA ETH 87 9:11.39 1215 WL 2. Hiwot AYALEW ETH 90 9:12.89 1211 SB 3. Emma COBURN USA 90 9:17.84 1199 PB 4. Etenesh DIRO NEDA ETH 91 9:25.69 1179 SB 5. Purity KIRUI KEN 91 9:29.18 1171 6. Lidya CHEPKURUI KEN 84 9:32.03 1163 SB 7. Fancy CHEROTICH KEN 90 9:41.02 1141 SB 8. Gesa Felicitas KRAUSE GER 92 9:42.95 1137 SB 9. Ashley HIGGINSON USA 89 9:50.12 1119 10. Habiba GHRIBI TUN 84 9:53.29 1111 SB 11. Eilish MCCOLGAN GBR 90 10:15.59 1058 SB - Aisha PRAUGHT USA 89 DNF - Jamie CHEEVER USA 87 DNF - Milcah CHEMOS KEN 86 DNF - Lauren JOHNSON USA 87 DNF Women's High Jump Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Anna CHICHEROVA RUS 82 2.01 1212 WL 2. Justyna KASPRZYCKA POL 87 1.99 1193 PB 3. Ruth BEITIA ESP 79 1.99 1193 SB 4. Mariya KUCHINA RUS 93 1.97 1173 SB 5. Ana ŠIMIĆ CRO 90 1.95 1154 6. Irina GORDEYEVA RUS 86 1.95 1154 SB 7. Kamila LIĆWINKO POL 86 1.95 1154 SB 8. Brigetta BARRETT USA 90 1.88 1086 9. Chaunte LOWE USA 84 1.88 1086 Women's Long Jump Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Wind Score 1. Ivana SPANOVIĆ SRB 90 6.88 +1.5 1169 WL, PB 2. Darya KLISHINA RUS 91 6.88 +0.6 1175 WL 3. Éloyse LESUEUR FRA 88 6.87 +1.0 1170 SB 4. Brittney REESE USA 86 6.86 +1.6 1164 SB 5. Tori BOWIE USA 90 6.82 +0.7 1161 SB 6. Shara PROCTOR GBR 88 6.60 +2.3 1104 7. Janay DELOACH SOUKUP USA 85 6.41 +1.5 1067 SB - Shara PROCTOR GBR 88 6.58 +0.7 1108 Women's Discus Throw Pl. Athlete / Team Cnt. Birth Result Score 1. Sandra PERKOVIĆ CRO 90 69.32 1243 2. Shanice CRAFT GER 93 65.38 1171 PB 3. Gia LEWIS-SMALLWOOD USA 79 64.98 1163 SB 4. Nadine MÜLLER GER 85 64.37 1152 5. Mélina ROBERT-MICHON FRA 79 63.65 1139 6. Julia FISCHER GER 90 63.55 1137 7. Yaimí PÉREZ CUB 91 62.04 1109 8. Żaneta GLANC POL 83 60.33 1077 SB
EUGENE, OREGON -May 31, 2014 - Anyanleh Souleiman celebrates winning the Bowerman Mile at the 2014 Pre Classic
01 JUN 2014 REPORT EUGENE, USA
OBIRI BREAKS HER OWN US ALL-COMERS 1500M RECORD IN EUGENE – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE
OBIRI BREAKS HER OWN US ALL-COMERS 1500M RECORD IN EUGENE – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE
RECORDS FALL TO RUPP AND PERKOVIC IN EUGENE – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE
RECORDS FALL TO RUPP AND PERKOVIC IN EUGENE – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE
RELATED
RELATED
31 MAY 2014 REPORT EUGENE, USA
Despite feeling a bit fatigued, Kenya's Hellen Obiri was confident in the strength and duration of her kick at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on Saturday (31).
That proved to be a pretty important weapon in her arsenal.
Running assertively in third place for most of the race, the 24-year-old surged over the final curve and sprinted to victory in a world-leading 3:57.05 to win the women's 1500m while establishing a US all-comers’ record at the 40th edition of the Prefontaine Classic, breaking her own mark of 3:58.58 established at this meeting last year.
“I came here looking to run faster than my personal best from last year, which was 3:58, so I am so happy," she said. "I like this stadium because it has been good to me. Last year I had a PB here. This year I had another PB here.”
Obiri also came here having exhausted herself overseas, first running an African record of 8:20.68 in the 3000m at the IAAF Diamond League opener in Doha on 9 May, then anchoring Kenya's 4x1500m to a world-record victory in 16:33.58 on 24 May at the IAAF World Relays in The Bahamas.
So rather than try to lead from start to finish, Obiri tucked in behind 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson and reigning world champion Abeba Aregawi of Sweden for most of the race. When pacemaker Phoebe Wright stepped off, leaving Simpson to do the work out front, Obiri bided her time before blasting into the lead around the final bend.
"My body was feeling tired when I was in The Bahamas because I had to work hard there just so we could break the world record," Obiri said. "Coming into this race, my coach and my manager told me not to push because the pace was going to be a hard 2:06. I tried to follow Aregawi because I knew she was a runner who is in good shape, and Jenny Simpson was there in the front. I knew I had a strong kick so I stayed there until 200 meters to go."
Aregawi tried to cover the move but was unable to close in on Obiri down the stretch. She finished second – ending a winning streak in the 1500m that dated back to August 2012 – in a season’s best of 3:57.57, pushing her leading total in the Diamond Race to six points. Faith Kipyegon, Obiri's Kenyan relay teammate, moved up a spot down the straight and finished third in 3:58.01. Simpson wound up finishing fourth in a personal best of 3:58.28.
James and Merritt in 400m photo finish
Kirani James of Grenada and LaShawn Merritt of the US waged another classic battle in the men's 400m, with James holding off Merritt's attempts to move in front down the entire homestretch and dipping just ahead at the line in a world-leading 43.97. Merritt was awarded the same time as a photo finish was used to determine the outcome.
"The last 80 or 90 meters, you've always got to pay attention to where LaShawn is," said James, who has won six of 10 head-to-head meetings with Merritt. "He has a very strong finish. He's very experienced in the 400m so he has his tactics down to a T. He hardly makes a mistake in his races."
"It’s always going to be good when we line up," Merriitt added. "You’ve got two, strong, big guys who are professionals and love to go at it. I love to go at it, win, lose or draw. You win some. You lose some. Some are photo finishes. But it's all about giving the fans a good show and finishing up healthy."
Claye makes a huge jump back
A mere three months ago, USA’s Will Claye wasn't sure if he would even be able to compete this outdoor season after suffering a hamstring injury at the USA Indoor Championships in February. But the two-time Olympic medallist signalled an early return to form in the men's triple jump, winning with a personal best and meeting record mark of 17.66m.
Olympic gold medallist Christian Taylor finished second in the event, leaping a wind-assisted 17.42m. Lyukman Adams of Russia was third at 17.29m, taking the Diamond Race lead with five points.
"There’s so much I’ve been going through the past few months, not being able to jump, tearing my hamstring," Claye said. "It was exciting to be able to compete again and to compete here meant everything. I've been jumping here since I was 17. It feels like home to me. The crowd is always so supportive. Every time I wanted to start a clap, they’d clap with me. They were just so supportive."
Assefa sets steeple record
Ethiopia's Sofia Assefa shaved two seconds off Milcah Chemos’s meeting record and nearly eight seconds off the world-leading time in the women's 3000m steeplechase, winning in an impressive 9:11.39.
USA’s Emma Coburn had clocked the previous fastest time in the world, 9:19.80, in her stunning win in Shanghai. Coburn was even faster in this race, lowering her personal best to 9:17.84 in a third-place finish. Hiwot Ayalew of Ethiopia was second in a season’s best of 9:12.89. Assefa leads Coburn, 6-5, in the Diamond Race standings.
Gatlin continues to go fast
USA’s Justin Gatlin joked that his teammates have been calling him Ricky Bobby, Will Ferrell's race driving character who always wanted to go fast in the movie Talladega Nights.
There may be some truth to the comparison as Gatlin once again lit things up in the men's 100m. The world leader blazed to another victory here in a wind-aided 9.76 (2.7m/s), finishing ahead of USA’s Mike Rodgers (9.80) and France's Jimmy Vicaut (9.89) while pushing his Diamond Race total to eight points.
"I don’t have to govern myself this year," Gatlin said. "I don’t have to wait to peak. There’s no World Championships or just one final, so I can go out there and run as fast as I want, when I want to run.”
Joe Battaglia for the IAAF
RELATED
RELATED
6 Quick Takeaways From The 2014 Pre Classic
6 Quick Takeaways From The 2014 Pre Classic
With almost everyone's eyes fixated on the clock on Friday (30) on the eve of the main competition programme for the IAAF Diamond Leaguemeeting in Eugene, Galen Rupp remained focused on competing, unmoved by time.
That is until the final two laps.
With 800 meters remaining and sensing the fatigue in his competition, the 28-year-old Olympic silver medallist lowered the boom, clicking off two impressive final quarters to win the men's 10,000m in 26:44.36, shattering his US record and drawing roaring approval from the Hayward Field crowd on the opening night of competition at the 40th edition of the Prefontaine Classic.
Rupp's time bettered his mark of 26:48.00 from Brussels in 2011 and stands as the second-fastest time ever run on US soil. Only world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia has ever run faster here, clocking his all-comers record of 26:25.97 here in 2008.
"Honestly I wasn’t really looking at time until a quarter mile to go, the last lap," Rupp said. "I was just really worried about competing. We didn’t just want to think about this as an opportunity to run fast. It really was about competing. I was happy with that first and foremost and then the time on top of that was a great way to finish."
The IAAF Diamond League portion of the meeting kicked off with field events that saw Croatia's Sandra Perkovic continue her domination of the women's discus, Serbia's Ivana Spanovic setting a world lead in the women's long jump, and USA’s Reese Hoffa score his third straight victory at this meeting in the men's shot put. But Rupp's performance was the highlight of Distance Night, which has become the precursor to Saturday's main program.
The race unfolded as primarily a four-man affair between Rupp, Paul Tanui, the world bronze medallist who ran 26:50.63 here in 2011, Bedan Karoki, who finished third in this race in 2012 which doubled as Kenya’s Olympic Trials, and Stephen Sambu, who was only asked on Wednesday to serve as a pacemaker.
The early pace saw consistent 63-second laps and the leaders come through the halfway point in 13:26.44. But when the primary pacers stepped off the track, the pace began sagging. With 800 meters remaining, Rupp decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
"I could tell the pace was starting to slow down a bit and I thought those guys might be getting tired so I decided to just go for it and see where I was," Rupp said. "I honestly was surprised with how strong I was. I didn’t know what to expect."
Rupp, who revealed that his wife is pregnant with twins, closed with laps of 59.4 and 58.5. Tanui finished second in 26:49.41, Karoki was third in 26:52.36 and Sambu stayed on and finished fourth in 26:54.61. The times for all three of those men were personal bests.
Rupp's coach, Alberto Salazar, was pleased with the performance.
"His training has been going really well," Salazar said. "It's been high mileage, more 10km based or focused rather than 5km. More volume, longer intervals, more geared towards 10km than 5km. We're kind of leaving that until later in the season. We knew this might be his last chance at a 10km this season so we decided to go for it here. Looking at how he ran, I think in the ideal race and circumstances he can run 10 seconds faster than he did tonight."
Perkovic continues whirl-wind tour
World and Olympic champion Perkovic continued to prove that she has no peer in the women's discus, scoring another dominant victory to push her Diamond Race point total to eight. She led the competition from her opening throw, but it wasn't until her sixth and final attempt that she was able to master the fast throwing surface and get the platter out to 69.32m, which broke her meeting record of 66.92m from 2012.
Perkovic's closest competitor was Germany's Shanice Craft, who finished second at 65.38m, a personal best. USA’s Gia Lewis-Smallwood finished third at 64.98m.
"The conditions were good, but I had some trouble in the circle," Perkovic said. "It was so fast and I needed four or five attempts to manage how to control the circle. On the final attempt I finally got it and was able to throw 69.32m, which is my third-best result ever.”
Spanovic comes up Diamonds late in long jump
Close competitions are nothing new to Spanovic. Prevailing in one, however, is a new experience.
The 24-year-old rallied from fifth place and into podium position in the fourth round, and on her final jump cleared 6.88m to set a Serbian outdoor record and tie the world lead.
Spanovic's mark equalled the third-round jump of Russia's Darya Klishina, who came into the meeting having jumped the same distance in Tokyo on May 11, but she was awarded the victory by virtue of the better second jump, the 6.86m she jumped in round four. With the victory, Spanovic moved into the Diamond Race lead with six points.
Spanovic found herself in a similar predicament in her IAAF Diamond League opener in Shanghai when she wound up finishing behind Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, 6.86m to 6.85m. Spanovic said that experience helped her remain calm.
"I definitely felt like I had the experience I needed," Spanovic said. "This was very exciting because all of the greatest jumpers in the world were here, so I must be proud of my win."
Hoffa is big shot once again
It took him a while to get going, but once he did Hoffa let fly with the throw he was waiting for in the fifth round, surging into the lead with a season’s best of 21.64m for a record-tying fourth victory at this meeting.
US throwers took the next two podium spots as well as Joe Kovacs unleashed a sixth-round throw of 21.46m. Christian Cantwell, who had led from the second round, wound up third with a sixth throw of 21.38m. Cantwell remains the Diamond Race leader with five points while Hoffa and Kovacs are tied for second with four points each.
Hoffa said it took him a while to get going, partly because he is still trying to master a tweak he made to his technique after injuring his knee at the Kansas Relays in April, and due to the anxiety of competing against a world-class field, even one thinned by the injuries to two-time world indoor champion Ryan Whiting of the US and double world champion David Storl of Germany.
"When you have Christian, who has the world-leading mark at 21.84m, it gives you that little bit of like, 'I gotta push. You never know when he is going to let one fly'," Hoffa said. " And you've got Tomasz [Majewski]. Then you've got Joe [Kovacs] who at Arizona had a throw of 22.40m, so I know he's got the horsepower. You're always going to be anxious when you have top-tier talent."
Joe Battaglia for the IAAF
The Monday Morning Run: Another Rupp Record, Rudisha Struggles, Vessey’s Outfitby LetsRun.com
May 31, 2014
EUGENE, Ore. — An incredible 2014 Pre Classic is in the books. Over the span of just 2.5 hours, there were close to 10 events that were comparable to (or even in some cases better) than an Olympic final.
Right now, we don’t have time to recap all of the six mid/d-distance events held today (men’s 800, mile, and 5k, women’s 1500, steeple and 2-mile). Hopefully, we’ll find time to do a men’s race recap and women’s race recap later but in the meantime, we give our 5 Quick Takeaways from the 2014 Pre Classic.
1. What an incredible Bowerman Mile
Save the best for last. The Bowerman Mile is always the last event at Pre Classic and often the highlight of the Pre Classic, and though the other distance races were loaded as well in 2014, Ayanleh Souleimanensured that the four-lap race delivered once again.
Souleiman made a big move with 300 to go, and Silas Kiplagat was the only man in the field to respond. Kiplagat, who won here last year, would end up second in 3:47.88 as Souleiman set a meet record, running 3:47.32.
Let’s put that 3:47.32 in perspective for you. That’s the fastest time in the world since Alan Webb’s American record of 3:46.91 in 2007.
But Souleiman wasn’t the only good guy to run well here. Just how good was this race? Well World silver medalist Matt Centrowitz set a new personal best of 3:50.53 and that only placed him 8th.
In all, 10 of the 14 runners set PBs, and four set national records (Souleiman for Djibouti, Aman Wote for Ethiopia, Johan Cronje for South Africa and Henrik Ingebrigtsen for Norway). The race had six men under 3:50 and four more under 3:52, as all-time records were set for the sixth through 11th finishers in this one.
Surprisingly, two-time defending world champion Asbel Kiprop was one of the guys who didn’t have a good race. He was nowhere to be seen once the move was made with 300 to go and almost looked as if he gave up once he realized he wasn’t going to win. Kiprop told us later that he thought the leaders would make their move with 200 to go and was caught off guard when they went earlier. He also added that he still plans on challenging on the world 1500 record of 3:26.00 later in the summer in Monaco on July 18.
While Centrowitz set a PB, he told us he was a bit disappointed to be so far from the lead and disappointed that he didn’t break 3:50.
2. Rudisha and Aman both lose/Amos wins
We saw flashes of the old Rudisha for the first 600 on Saturday, but when the race was over, it wasn’t Rudisha or world indoor/outdoor champ Mo Aman of Ethiopia celebrating. No, it was Olympic silver medalist Nijel Amos of Botswana, who used a strong last 100 to pull away for the win over Aman in 1:43.63.
The most interesting part of this race came with 200 to go when Aman accelerated rapidly in an attempt to pass Rudisha for the lead. Rudisha responded quickly, and the two were close to an all-out sprint as they began to gap the field.
Their impatience would cost them, however, as they both ran out of steam over the last 100, especially Rudisha. Aman held on for second behind Amos, who timed his move perfectly, while Rudisha fell all the way back to seventh, giving several guys a much-prized scalp.
Rudisha and Aman were so focused on beating each other that they ended up handing the race to Amos. It was a classic case of each guy focusing on a single opponent rather than the field, and they couldn’t afford to do that against such a stellar group of runners. Think about it: entering the meet, Aman was the only man to beat Rudisha since 2010. And Aman himself was riding a 13-race win streak entering Pre. They both saw each other as their biggest threats, and by countering each other with 200 to go, they left the door wide open for Amos.
You’ve only got one move in an 800 and an all-out acceleration 200 meters out from the finish is foolish when there is a third guy in the field who ran 1:41.73 as an 18-year old at the 2012 Olympics. After the 2012 Games, we wondered if moving forward if Rudisha would be able to handle the young upstarts in Aman and Amos. Amos, like Rudisha, was gone for most of 2013, but he was right with Aman in his first 800 of 2014 and ahead of them both in his second here.
For the time being, Amos is the new #1 in the 800.
3. Big days for Jenny Simpson and Hellen Obiri
Hellen Obiri has had an incredible last few weeks.
On May 9th, she ran what was likely a clean outdoor world record of 8:20 for 3k in Doha, last week she set a world record in the 4×1500 at the World Relays and today she broke the meet record at Pre for the second year in a row, running a world-leading 3:57.05.
More importantly, she’s beaten the two women who indoors were viewed as unbeatable in women’s distance running except if they raced each other – Abeba Aregawi of Sweden (who was second today in 3:57.57) and Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia.
Dibaba was viewed as untouchable indoors, setting world records at 1500, 3000 and two miles before winning the world indoors 3k. The other runners were so intimidated by Aregawi at the world indoors 1500 that they let her go early, essentially ceding the gold medal and allowing Aregawi to win by over six seconds. Obiri beat Dibaba handily in the Doha 3k and added a win over Aregawi here. She’s the best women’s distance runner on the planet on the track right now.
The US’s best women’s distance runner on the track – 2011 world champ Jenny Simpson - had a good day today as well as she finally set a 1500 PB for the first time in five years. Simpson ran 3:59.90 at Pre in 2009 while in college at Colorado, and after running 4:00 in Shanghai two weeks ago she finally got under 4:00 again at Pre, finishing fourth in 3:58.28 (Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon in third in 3:58.01). Simpson moves up to #3 on the U.S.’s all-time list behind Mary Decker-Slaney and Suzy Favor-Hamilton.
Convicted doper Decker-Slaney’s American record is 3:57.12 and Simpson said that she’d love to break it if possible. Rather than billing up a certain race as a record attempt, Simpson said she’d just like to get in great shape for some of the later European races and hope that the pacing and competition is good enough for her to run a really fast time.
4. It was a tough day for the Hayward Field P.A. announcer
Hayward Field P.A. announcer Gary Hill is a legend in track and field circles, but he wasn’t at his best on Saturday at the Pre Classic. Hey, even Babe Ruth went 0-for-4 every once in a while.
Glaring mistakes happened one after the other and he misidentified race winner after race winner. In the women’s 1500, he said that Faith Kipyegon was battling Abeba Aregawi for the win when it was in fact Hellen Obiri that got the win. Then in the men’s 800, Hill said that Alfred Kipketer was pulling away to win the race when it was actually Nijel Amos. Kipketer was way back, next to last.
Finally, in the Bowerman Mile, Hill repeatedly told the crowd that Silas Kiplagat was leading on the final lap. But it was actually Ayanleh Souleiman in front, with Kiplagat in second.
We can sympathize to a point as often multiple athletes will be wearing the same singlet and it can be hard to pick them out from the top of the bleachers. But you’ve got to think Hill had a spotter helping him and a monitor nearby, and it was easy to see on the monitors that it was Souleiman, not Kiplagat, who was leading the race.
It must have been very confusing for the casual fan to follow the races when the P.A. announcer didn’t know who was winning. Normally we’d give Hill a pass, but it’s unacceptable to screw up three of the biggest races of the meet.
After the race, we asked Hellen Obiri if she was offended by Hill’s mistake. To her credit, she laughed it off and said that she looks like Kipyegon.
5. Order is restored in the women’s steeple.
American Emma Coburn pulled off a surprise victory at the last Diamond League meet in Shanghai, and though Coburn set another PB here at Pre (9:17.84) to take third, she lost out to Ethiopians Sofia Assefa and Hiwot Ayalew, who were simply too good over the final two laps.
Coburn led most of the way and was actually speeding up toward the end of the race, running a penultimate lap of 72 seconds, her fastest of the day. But Assefa and Ayalew moved past her on the second-to-last lap and really hammered it home. Assefa’s winning time of 9:11.39 was a world leader and meet record.
The fact that Assefa and Ayalew beat Coburn makes sense as Assefa and Ayalew were second and third behind Coburn in Shanghai two weeks ago. There they simply spotted her too much space and couldn’t close hard enough. They stayed closer to Coburn this time out and beat Coburn handily at the end.
To her credit, Coburn tried to gap them early once again today and at times had a little gap. Coburn was happy after the race was finished, and rightfully so. It’s another PB for her (and the conditions weren’t ideal as it was a little windy) and more proof that she is now one of the world’s best steeplers.
Defending world champ Milcah Chemos, who said she wasn’t in great shape heading into Shanghai, where she ran just 9:38, was even worse today as she didn’t even finish.
6. The Americans should be thankful that Kenya only gets three entries at worlds/the Olympics.
While there were a number of strong American mid-d/distance performances today, no American came close to winning an event. In fact, only one was top 3 (Coburn). Simpson was near the front in the 1500, but no American man threatened in the 5000, 800 or Bowerman Mile. Galen Rupp ran and won yesterday, but apart from him and the injuredNick Symmonds, all the big-name Americans were here.
Because there are no country limits on entries at Diamond League meets, you can sometimes get better fields at a meet like this than you might get at a world/Olympic final. For instance, in the Bowerman Mile the three medalists from the Moscow 1500, Kiprop, Centrowitz and Cronje, went 7-8-9 here, with three Kenyans in front of them. Five Kenyans were in top 10 today and all ran 3:51.12 or better here. In the Olympics, two of them wouldn’t even be able to get into the meet.
Moreover, one of the disadvantages that elite Kenyan runners face in championship years is that they have to run fast times early and approach near-peak fitness for the Kenyan trials whereas runners for lesser countries can focus entirely on peaking for the championship meet. Imagine if someone like James Magut, who was fifth in the Bowerman Mile in 3:49.43, was from Belgium, not Kenya.
He’d be able to focus completely on worlds/Olympics and time his peak perfectly. But since he’s Kenyan, he has to do really well at the start of the season to even have a shot at making the Kenyan team. By the time he reaches the championship meet, he might not be in the same shape he was early in the year.
Jennny Simpson’s PRd for the first time in 5 years today
Coming in, the men’s 800 meters received a lot of attention and rightly so. It featured the return of Olympic champ and world-record holderDavid Rudisha against quite possibly the greatest 800 field ever assembled. The Hayward Field crowd loved Rudisha, and he got the loudest applause of the day when he was introduced prior to the race.
All Prefontaine Classic, all the time. If you missed any of the races, the videos are archived here. There were two American records, David Rudisha and Asbel Kiprop both looked human, Kirani James and Lashawn Merritt broke 44 seconds and Maggie Vessey’s uniform almost broke the electromagnetic spectrum.
The Medalists
The Medalists
The top three performances of the week…
Gold: Galen Rupp
Friday evening in Eugene, Rupp reset his American record in the 10,000. With 5,000 splits of 13:26 and 13:18 he ran 26:44.36 to shave four seconds off the mark he set three years ago in Brussels. The race was teased as a record attempt, but after Rupp only managed a 13:19 in the 5,000 at the High Performance Meet at Occidental two weeks ago, there were serious questions as to whether he could round into a shape in time. A couple of thoughts on the race and the record:
-All of the early splits were between 2:40 and 2:43. Fast enough to keep him in range, but the record was still in doubt until Rupp took over with two laps remaining. He ran his last 800 in 1:57.
-In record attempts, especially ones that are 25 laps long, the little things add up. The field was filled with sub 27-minute runners and yet Rupp managed to maintain inside position for almost the entire race. Even when Paul Tanui, who beat Rupp at the World Championships last year, made a push late in the race, Rupp hugged the rail. He may not have run exactly 10,000 meters, but he was very close.
-We all marveled at how fast Rupp ran in the indoor season. Though he didn’t medal at the World Indoor Championships, he sure looked like he was close to his peak when he reeled off a string of great races in the winter. I thought this meant he needed some downtime before gearing up for the outdoor season. I expected him to run fast this season, but in August or September, not at the end of May.
-On that same point, when gauging he chances at the record, I probably overlooked how much Rupp has improved in the last couple years. His old record came at the end of the season in a time trial race where he had Kenenisa Bekele to chase. Considering that, it didn’t seem likely that he could top that this early in the season. But that doesn’t factor in how much better 2014 Rupp is from 2011 Rupp. Since the race in 2011 he has won a silver medal in the Olympics, set several American records, had two more years of training with the best runner in the world and increased his closing speed exponentially.
-This race might have been the death blow for anyone who hopes to see Rupp move up to the marathon. At least in the next two years. On a bad day, he is one of the five best 10,000 runners in the world and it looks like only Farah will be able to challenge him in 2016.
Silver: Kirani James/Lashawn Merritt
James squeaked out a win over Merritt with both men finishing in 43.97. After Saturday, James leads the overall series 6-5, with the two splitting their two meetings this year.
Their rivalry is good enough to stand out on its own. But it carries even greater weight because it is really the only sprint rivalry going. In the women’s 100 and 200, Carmelita Jeter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Allyson Felix have traded off being injured, the women’s 400 has too much parity and in the men’s 100 and 200, the best two runners will practice with each other, but not race one another. In fact, the two greatest current rivalries involving men’s 100 meter runners include guys who are retired:Yohan Blake vs. Carl Lewis and Tyson Gay vs. Jon Drummond.
This void has allowed James and Merritt to come to the forefront. Over the last two years they have kept everyone off balance. Just as one man seems to have an edge the other counters with a win. On Saturday, they went stride-for stride over the final 100 meters. Merritt was composed, while James flailed as they approached the line. They crossed the line separated by thousandths.
That is nice of James to say, but there are two men, not 10, in the conversation for best 400-meter runner in the world. They are the only two capable of running under 44 seconds consistently. And they actually race each other.
Bronze: Kenyan middle distance women
Mercy Cherono won the women’s two mile and Hellen Obiri ran a blistering 3:57.05 to upset Abeba Aregawi of Sweden in the women’s 1,500. Cherono and Obiri ran on the world record 4 x 1,500 team at the World Relays and both are spearheading a Kenyan middle distance squad that two months ago seemed destined to spend the next five years under Genzebe Dibaba’s shadow. That has changed quickly after the first few meets of the Diamond League season.
It’s clear now that Obiri and Cherono’s fast 3,000 times from Doha (8:20 and 8:21, respectively) weren’t just the result of a fast track or a one-off race. On Saturday, Obiri handled the fast pace set by the rabbits, and then by Jenny Simpson, and outkicked Aregawi off the final curve. The loss was Aregawi’s first in over a year on the Diamond League circuit. Behind Aregawi, Faith Kipyegon, another Kenyan, finished third in 3:58.01.
The Kenyan resistance in the middle distances comes after a winter when Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba was untouchable, breaking three world records over a three week period and winning the gold in the 3,000 at the World Indoor Championships. Suddenly, Kenya looks much stronger and much deeper than any other nation.
That depth will also hurt the United States, who has made serious inroads in the middle distances in recent years. Jenny Simpson and Brenda Martinez are competitive in any field, but the United States just doesn’t seem to have the depth to compete in multiple middle distance events at the same time.
Saturday’s 3,000 was a perfect example. Cherono, Viola Kibiwot of Kenya and Bahrain’s Mimi Beleteall finished in 9:13. Shannon Rowbury set an American record and placed fourth, but was over six seconds behind third place.
Maybe the United States’s strength in the 800 and 1,500 will trickle up. Or maybe, more of the Kenyan talent will begin to flock to the roads, like it has with the men.
Surging….
Surging….
-Torie Bowie
By far the least heralded member of the women’s 200 field, Bowie shocked everyone and won the race from lane one. Her time, 22.18, betters her old personal best by almost four tenths of second. More importantly, she can now a claim a victories over Allyson Felix, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Blessing Okagbare and Murielle Ahoure.
In his recap of the meet, Jesse answers the key question. Who is Torie Bowie?
So the only reason she even got in the 200 was because she was able to hang around after the long jump the night before? Kids, this is why you never leave a track meet early.
-Justin Gatlin
With the benefit of the Hayward Field tailwind, Gatlin ran a 9.76 to win the men’s 100. The time converts to a 9.88 in still conditions so he actually ran faster in Tokyo when he ran 10.02 into a 3.5 m/s headwind. After the calculations, that time was worth a 9.78.
Got all that?
Meaningless conversions aside, Gatlin wasn’t nearly as dominant as he was in Shanghai at his last Diamond League appearance. There, he won by two tenths of a second. His margin over Mike Rodgerson Saturday was only .04. Gatlin is clearly the best 100-meter runner in the world when Bolt and Blake aren’t racing. I’m assuming he will race both of them (though not at the same time) at some point in the season. Until then, the men’s 100 will be flat.
-Ayanleh Souleiman
It’s been seven years since someone ran faster than 3:48 in the mile. When Souleiman’s time of 3:47.32 popped up on the screen, the 7 looked a bit out of place.
Laps two and three were both run in 58 seconds, which didn’t give any indication that the meet record was in danger. Then Souleiman jumped the field with 300 meters to go leaving Asbel Kipropcompletely flat-footed. Silas Kiplagat was the only runner who maintained contact and finished with a personal best of 3:47.88. In total, six men broke 3:50. Kiprop faded and placed seventh in 3:50.26. Add him to the list of London gold medalists who struggled at Pre.
My excellent adventure-The 2014 Pre Classic: Channeling Steve Prefontaine, by Larry Eder
My excellent adventure-The 2014 Pre Classic: Channeling Steve Prefontaine, by Larry Eder
| 0 Comments |
By Larry Eder on June 1, 2014 3:07 AM
Leo Manzano leads 12 across line under 4 minutes, International Mile,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Djibouti's Ayanleh Souleiman wins Bowerman Mile in DL 3:47.32
with fourteen men behind him under 3:56!
photo by PhotoRun.net
The Prefontaine Classic honors the late Steve Prefontaine, who died on May 30, 1975, just hours after running the fastest 5000 meters in the world for that year. Originally, the Hayward Field Restoration meet, Meet Director Tom Jordan has kept this positive sanctuary of our sport going for forty years now, with the support of Nike.
The Hayward Restoration meet started in 1974. Rick Wolhuter ran an American record for 800 meters that year. Frank Shorter nearly beat Steve Prefontaine over three miles that day, with Pre, in front of HIS people, making a last desperate move over the last 300 meters. Pre kept his win streak going that day.
Mercy Cherono, two miles, photo by PhotoRun.net
In 1975, Steve Prefontaine had won the 5,000 meters over Frank Shorter,at the Hayward Restoration Meet, had a few beers, and while driving home, trying to avoid a head-on collision, rolled his car and suffocated underneath, as the people who he had tried to avoid hitting with his MG, stirred up enough courage to call the police. By the time help arrived, Steve Prefontaine had died, struggling to get his last breaths, as a several thousand pound sports car smothered him.
Steve Prefontaine died in his mid twenties. The people who knew Steve Prefontaine knew he tried to live his life with brutal honesty, like an ee cummings poem. No quarter asked, no quarter given. His life ended rudely, with no explanation.
It is said that, when Bill Dellinger was told of Steve Prefontaine's death, Dellinger tore a clock out of its wall socket and threw it across the room. Honesty, pain, loss, hurt. Bill Dellinger was one of the few who got Pre's drive, his need to perform, his need to fill the void he felt inside. Dellinger understood Prefontaine, because he had that drive, how else would one have competed in 56,60, and 64 Olympics. Dellinger knew Steve could win an Olympic medal-he just felt it.
Prefontaine had lived his life honestly. Unfortunately, the truth of his death did not come out for many years. He was not drunk. He had drank several beers, but his fatal mistake, his achilles heel, was not wearing a seat belt.
His friend, Jan Johnson, a 1972 Olympic team-mate, had experienced a similar accident in same type of car, and survived due to his seat belt. Pre and Johnson had spoken about it, but Steve was, as many people have told me, Steve. He lived his life without apologies. He died the same way.
David Rudisha, ran, and lost, in his first race in over a year,
photo by PhotoRun.net
I remember when I heard of his death. I felt a pain in the pit of my stomach. It was the same I felt when Robert Kennedy had been assassinated. I knew the world would never be the same. Prefontaine and Shorter were the two runners I identified with at that time. I had met Shorter, at the 1974 AAU cross country and he had been fun with my friends and myself. We became lifelong fans of Frank Shorter.
Pre was this mix of athlete and rock star. He reminded me of lots of the heavy metal guys I was into in 1975. I had lost Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Tommy Bolin (T-Rex) only a few years before. Why did the people I admired die so young? Would I make it to 21? 25? I found that doubtful, I once wrote, terrifying my mother.
The one time I could have seen Prefontaine actually race, in February 1975, I had to miss the SF Indoor Games due to work commitment. I began going to Pre Meets I believe, in the late 80s.
I have missed few Pre meets since. In the following years, great races ensued, even when Tom Jordan had little support from Nike. Under John Capriotti's leadership, Jordan knew he had a kindred spirit.
Will Claye soared in the Triple Jump, photo by PhotoRun.net
In the 1990s, the Nike Pre Classic was the only bastion of elite track in our country. Some would try to put on meets, but failed. It was not until the adidas GP (formerly Reebok GP), in NYC, who put the power of a global brand and keen meet management behind an event, that the East Coast had an event that gave Easterners a chance to see a European style meet. That model had been the Pre Classic.
For me, 1995 was the most poignant year at the Pre Classic. Frank Shorter, the two time Olympic medalist, a frequent competitor to Steve Prefontaine, spoke to the assembled crowd at Hayward Field about how Prefontaine had changed him, and that after his death, something had died in him. Frank was exploring some very painful things in his life, at the time, but, to me, the relationship between he and Steve Prefontaine struck a chord.
Kirani James versus LaShawn Merritt, both run 43.97, unapologetic racing,
photo by PhotoRun.net
The 40th anniversary of the Nike Pre Classic was one of it's best ever. This year, there were more non-Nike athletes at the event as well. For an event accused of being a Nike alumn meet, that was always a secret of its success. In many Nike athlete agreements, sources would tell us that the athletes had to race at key Nike events. Pre Classic had fields of athletes worth millions.
This year, the crowd was as strong as ever. The fields were fantastic. The key to the Pre Classic, is that, for three hours, wave after wave of athletes compete, great event after great event happen, as crowds cheer, stand up, and wonder, who will win! The huge god of athletics is satiated with great performances as athletes in their prime, give their best to see how fast, how far, how long, that they can run, jump and throw.
In it's unabashed athleticism, is where I feel the spirit of Steve Prefontaine. Shorter suggested to Tom Jordan that Pre could best be understood as a unpredictable satyr who loves a late night, cold beer and warm woman (to paraphrase a Tom Waits song).
That his spirit is kept alive in a Nike that strives for continued multi-billion dollar growth, at least one day a year, is comforting. I think that, as I see Steve Prefontaine, he would be the guy, standing on top of a table asking "What the flying F##ck" do you think you are doing?". Pre, in his early sixties, would have been no different. A man possessed. A man with spirit. We have all missed what he could have become.
Nijel Amos, Mo Amman in the 800 meters, photo by PhotoRun.net
It puts a tear in my eyes, to see that Steve Prefontaine did not live long enough to enjoy the things we find as part of our daily lives. That is the part that breaks my heart. Having a child. Staying up all night worrying about said child when they were sick, mad at you, doing their thing-Steve Prefontaine did not get to experience those parts of life.
Recently, my 28 year old son, Adam admitted, that there were times, in our relationship, when he wondered how I had not just sold him into servitude. I smiled and said, " How could I do that, dear son? I wanted to see how you would turn out." Thank god, Adam lived past the age of seventeen, an age with American males that is truly the Nightmare year of young adult hood when, specifically males are a combination of a beast from hell, one moment, and a teenager the next.
As I was leaving the meet after the Bowerman Mile, I spotted Matt Centrowitz, the father, fretting a bit over his son, Matthew Centrowitz. Trying to comfort him, I told Matt, " Matthew got a PB, it is early in the season." Matt nodded, but he was being what he does well now, he was being a dad, worried about his talented son.
I thought, Steve Prefontaine would have liked that. He would have wanted that experience. But, he had never lived long enough to have that experience. That is what happens when one dies young.
But, one day a year, Steve Prefontaine, in cotton sweats, with a hoody on, can almost be seen, sitting up in the top of the stands, with his Waffle racers on, holding a cold one, wondering how many milers Tom Jordan and John Capriotti can get under four minutes in the Bowerman mile. Then, as quietly as he climbed up into the stands, he and his buddy, Elvis, head over to Track Town Pizza, looking for a good beer, a decent pizza, and some BTO on the I-Tunes.
And that, to me, is good.
Five Middle and Long Distance records shattered at Pre Classic , by David Monti, RRW, used with permission
Five Middle and Long Distance records shattered at Pre Classic , by David Monti, RRW, used with permission
| 0 Comments |
By Larry Eder on May 31, 2014 8:49 PM
Galen Rupp, after his 10,000m AR, photo by PhotoRun.net
Hellen Obiri wins the 2014 Prefontaine Classic 1500m in a USA all-comers record of 3:57.05 (photo by David Monti for Race Results Weekly)
The 40th Pre Classic gave the 13,000 plus fans something to stand on their feet for: 15 world leaders, six meet records, and numerous national records! In two elite men's miles, twenty-six milers broke four minutes for the mile, making it 335 different times the four minute mile has been broken in Eugene at the Pre Classic.
Read further to see RRW's David Monte's view of the fantastic meet!
FIVE MIDDLE & LONG DISTANCE RECORDS SHATTERED AT PREFONTAINE CLASSIC
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2014 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission
EUGENE (31-May) -- On the second and final day of the 40th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field here, a sold-out crowd of 13,150 saw six world-leading times in the middle and long distance events, including five meeting records. Four of those marks in this IAAF Diamond League meeting --led by Ayanleh Souleiman's spectacular 3:47.32 mile, the fastest mile run in the world since 2007-- were the quickest ever recorded on U.S. soil.
The record party got started with the International Mile, probably the most competitive "B" race in the world. Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano, running for the first time in Hayward Field for his new sponsor Hoka One One, closed with an explosive sprint to win in a world-leading 3:52.41, the third-fastest time of his career. He narrowly beat a fast-closing Jordan McNamara of the Oregon Track Club Elite, who ran a career best of 3:52.89, and American steeplechase record-holder Evan Jager who finished third in 3:53.33, also a personal best.
"You know, I've had some fantastic workouts," Manzano told reporters. "I didn't know what I could do." He continued: "Today was just amazing. I feel so great, so blessed."
But Manzano's world leader would only hold up for two hours and 16 minutes, when 16 men lined up for the meet's closing event, the Bowerman Mile. Behind the strong pacemaking of Kenyans Hillary Kipkorir Maiyo and Andrew Kiptoo Rotich, the pack strung out quickly, hitting 440 yards in 53.8 and half-way in 1:53-flat. After the pacemakers retired, reigning world champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya was on the front, followed by Souleiman of Djibouti, Silas Kiplagat of Kenya and Aman Wote of Ethiopia.
Kiprop hit the three-quarter mark in 2:51.9, but the tall and lanky two-time world champion couldn't respond when Souleiman and Kiplagat surged with about 250 meters to go. Explaining later that "it wasn't his day," Kiprop faded to finish seventh in "only" 3:50.26.
With Kiprop out of the frame, Souleiman and Kiplagat quickly hit top speed, and duked it out down the homestretch as the Hayward fans rose to their feet. Souleiman, the reigning world indoor 1500m champion, got the upper had in the final 50 meters to get the win. Kiplagat had to settle for a 3:47.88 personal best in second; Wote set an Ethiopian record in third (3:48.60). Ten men ran under 3:52.
"It was a good race; I'm happy to win," a smiling Soulieman told reporters in English. "This is my dream. "I am running the Doha 1500 in 3:30 (May 9th). At that time I told myself I'm running mile in 3:47, 3:48. That's my goal."
Down the finish order, American Matthew Centrowitz ran a career best 3:50.53, good for eighth place. London Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria finished 11th in 3:52.15. Nonetheless, he set a personal best.
In the race just before the Bowerman Mile, David Rudisha made his comeback in the 800m after a year away from racing. The world record holder and London Olympic champion from Kenya ran a fearless race, following pacemaker Bram Som of Holland through the 600-meter split in 1:17.19. But the last 200 meters were difficult for the adidas-sponsored athlete, who tied-up in the homestretch, fading from first to seventh. Finishing in 1:44.87 --without any pain in his right knee-- Rudisha got an honest read on his fitness.
"It was tough," he told more than a dozen reporters jockeying for position in the mixed zone to hear the soft-spoken athlete. He continued: "The race was good. In the beginning I started pushing, but only in the last 100 I felt it was a little bit tough."
Ahead of Rudisha, Botswana's Nijel Amos, the 2012 London Olympic silver medalist, powered ahead to a meet record and world-leading 1:43.63. He narrowly defeated reigning world champion, Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia, 1:43.63 to 1:43.99.
"Actually, I'm so happy to see myself in second race 1:43," Amos said, referring to his season-opening effort of 1:44.54 in Doha when he took second to Aman. "It shows I'm in good shape to go back (to training) now."
Caleb Ndiku won a strategic men's 5000m in a world-leading 13:01.71. The reigning world indoor 3000m champion clocked a 54.7-second final lap to beat Ethiopia's Yenew Alamirew (13:02.91) and defending Prefontaine champion Edwin Soi (13:04.92). Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat had an off day. Telling reporters that he felt "flat," the 39 year-old was never a factor in the race and finished 14th in 13:31.23.
WOMEN BREAK RECORDS TOO
Women put on an formidable display of running here today, too, especially the impressive all-comers record in the 1500m by Kenya's Hellen Obiri: 3:57.05. The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships silver medalist put herself near the front of the race early, following both the pacemaking of Phoebe Wright and the bobbing ponytail of 2011 world 1500m champion Jenny Simpson. Wright got the leaders through 800m in a very fast 2:08.07, then Simpson took over, going for broke, just like her coach Heather Burroughs had advised her.
"'I'll make this really simple,'" Simpson recalled Burroughs telling her. "'Just forget about the different mantras, the different plans and things, and just go out and get on Phoebe and run hard."
Simpson was in the lead at the 1200m mark (3:11.49), but Obiri, reigning world champion Abeba Aregawi of Sweden, and Kenyan's Faith Kipyegon were hot on her heels. Aregawi went to the lead with about 200 meters to go, but was swallowed up by the fast-closing Obiri. Aregawi clocked 3:57.57 for second, Kipyegon got third in 3:58.01, and Simpson set a personal best in fourth: 3:58.28. It was the second time she had broken four minutes at Hayward Field.
"I like this stadium because last year I had a PB, this year I had a PB," Obiri told Race Results Weekly. "So I love to come here next year."
The women's two-mile also produced an all-comer's record. Kenya's Mercy Cherono and Viola Kibiwot, and Bahrain's Mini Belete engaged in a three-way battle after an ambitious first half of 4:33.5. Cherono got the victory in the final sprint, clocking the fastest time ever on U.S. soil: 9:13.27 (it was also a world-leader). Kibiwot ran 9:13.48 and Belete 9:13.85, an area record.
In fourth place Shannon Rowbury set a USA record of 9:20.25, surpassing Amy Rudolph's previous mark of 9:21.35 set in Cork, Ireland, in 1998.
"I thought, I knew, coming into this race I had a shot at the record," Rowbury told Race Results Weekly. "That being said, you never know on a given day. The last 100 meters, I saw the clock, I heard the announcers, and I knew it was going to be close."
Ethiopia's Sofia Assefa also ran an all-comers record in the women's steeplechase, winning a close contest over compatriot Hiwot Ayalew, 9:11.39 to 9:12.89. America's Emma Coburn, a training partner of Jenny Simpson, finished third in a career best 9:19.84. While pleased with her performance, she nonetheless saw room for improvement.
"I'm happy with the PR (personal record), obviously," Coburn told Race Results Weekly. "But I was definitely hoping to go a few seconds faster and have a stronger last kilometer than I did. I kind of of checked out a little from 1200 to go to 400 to go (when she was running by herself)."
The 41st annual Prefontaine Classic will be held on May 29 & 30, 2015.
TRACK & FIELD
TRACK & FIELD
Elated Rupp sets 10k record
Elated Rupp sets 10k record
Galen Rupp breaks his own American record Friday at the Pre Classic
Galen Rupp breaks his own American record Friday at the Pre Classic
Galen Rupp celebrates after breaking his American record in the 10,000 meters on Friday night. (Brian Davies/The Register-Guard)
As the sun set and the lights came on, Galen Rupp took center stage.
Then he took down his American record.
Waiting until the 23rd lap to finally pounce, the former Oregon star blazed through the last two laps of the 10,000 meters before finishing in 26 minutes, 44.36 seconds Friday night during the Prefontaine Classic track and field meet at Hayward Field.
It was the second-fastest time ever run in the United States and the fastest in the world this season.
“Just elated,” said Rupp, whose previous record was 26:48.0 set in 2011, the year before he won silver at the London Olympics. “Honestly, my biggest focus coming in was just worrying about competing, where I was at, how I was going to finish. To be able to get the record on top of that was just a nice bonus.”
An estimated crowd of 7,000 showed up for the free “Distance Night in Eugene” portion of the 40th Pre Classic, and those who waited for the late start to the 10,000 — and it certainly looked as though most did — were treated to the type of race Rupp was hoping to run when he asked meet organizers for a fast pace earlier this week.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming in, but I knew I had a good chance to run fast,” said Rupp, 27, who lives in Portland and runs for the Nike Oregon Project.
Rupp got out to comfortable start, settling into fifth place at the back of the lead pack in the first half of the race.
That group hit 5,000 meters at 13:26 and Rupp took two more laps before moving into third place behind leader Stephen Sambu and Paul Tanui, a pair of Kenyans who held their positions for the next eight laps.
But with three laps to go, Tanui and Rupp moved past Sambu and coming down the homestretch into lap 24, Rupp took off and the crowd roared its approval and didn’t stop until he crossed the finish line.
“It shows you how special this place is that they get this many people coming out and are this enthusiastic about a 10K,” Rupp said. “The main program’s tomorrow and they’ve got a great meet set up, and to have this many people show up Friday night is just phenomenal.”
He pumped his fist as he crossed the finish line and was met by coach Alberto Salazar on the track with a bear hug.
“I honestly didn’t know how fast we were running but I felt really good and I was focusing on getting ready for the finish,” Rupp said. “I knew it was a great field here, they’re no joke. Tanui beat me in Moscow last year so I knew he had a great kick. … With a lap to go, I realized where I was at and it brought a smile to my face.”
Tanui finished second in 26:49.41, and Kenya’s Bedan Karoki was third in 26:52.36. Sambu, who did much of the work through 21 laps, dropped to fourth in 26:54.61.
The win gave Rupp his third American record of the 2014 season, having already set two American records indoors this year in the two-mile (8:07) and the 5,000 (13:01).
And the year is only going to get better for Rupp, who said he and his wife are expecting twins in six weeks.
“It’s been stressful at times but it’s been a real big motivator for me, all that my wife’s going through and how well she’s handling everything,” Rupp said. “It hasn’t been easy but she’s been doing a great job and it’s really motivated me to be disciplined. We’re just really excited.”
The Pre Classic resumes today at Hayward Field with a preview program at noon. The first event will be the men’s triple jump at 12:22 p.m.
Running his first race in more than a year because of knee and calf injuries, the Kenyan pushed the pace until the final curve when he was passed by a series of runners to finish seventh in the men’s 800 at the Prefontaine Classic Saturday afternoon.
Rudisha, who set the world record of 1:40.91 while winning the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics, finished in 1 minute, 44.87 seconds during his first appearance in Eugene.
“It was tough to go out there, but I am happy to start at 1:44 after missing a year,” Rudisha said. “I think it’s good.”
Nijel Amos of Botswana, who won silver in the 2012 Olympics, set a meet record and won the race in 1:43.63, the top time in the world this year.
“I am so happy,” Amos said. “I wanted to run my race. I didn’t care who was in the race or who was not in the race.”
Amos said he welcomes Rudisha back to competition.
“It is good to see him in good shape again so I can run good times,” Amos said. “Maybe that record can go again, who knows?”
Rudisha went out fast and led the entire race until he slowed at the end.
“I know now that I am going to build up,” he said. “It was not bad because I was leading until the last 100, that was when I was tiring. I can go back and see how I can build up so I can finish next time.”
Mohammed Aman was second in 1:43.99 followed by Abubaker Kaki in 1:44.09.
In the final race of the meet, Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti set a meet record and a Diamond League record by winning the Bowerman Mile in 3:47.32, the fastest ever run on U.S. soil.
“It was a good race,” Souleiman said. “I am happy to win. This is my dream.”
Silas Kiplagat also broke the previous meet and league records by finishing second in 3:47.88.Former Oregon star Matthew Centrowitz was eighth in 3:50.53, a personal best.“It was OK, I guess,” Centrowitz said. “I can’t say it was great, but I wan’t say it was too bad. I had a personal best, but I expected more out of myself and wanted to do a better job of positioning myself in front, be more aggressive than usual. I tried to do that, but I am still finding it hard to get to the front and at the same time not feel like I’m sprinting. It is still a work in progress, I will get better at it this year.”
Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku won the 5,000 in 13:01.71, the fastest time in the world this year, followed by Yenew Alamirew in 13:02.91.
Photos: Day one of the 40th annual Prefontaine Classic draws a large crowd to Hayward Field
Photos: Day one of the 40th annual Prefontaine Classic draws a large crowd to Hayward Field
Posted by Michael Shaw and Andrew Seng on Friday, May. 30 at 11:05 pm.
The worlds best track and field athletes converge on historic Hayward Field for the 40thannual Prefontaine Classic. The invitational kicked off on Friday with seven events, including the last event of the evening, the 10,000 meters, where a new American record was set but American Galen Rupp with a time of 26:44.36. Other notable performances from day one include two women’s long jumpers, Ivana Spanovic of Serbia and Darya Klishina of Russia setting world leading distances of 6.88 meters, as well as a meet record in the women’s discus throw set by Sandra Perkovic of Croatia with a distance of 69.32 meters.
Day two of the Prefontaine Classic continues on Saturday May 31 with the first event, the men’s triple jump, starting at 12:22 p.m. at Hayward Field.
American distance runner Galen Rupp celebrates as he crosses the finish line in the mens 10,000 meter race. Rupp finished the race in first place with a time of 26:44.36, a new American record. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
The field takes off at the start of the 10,000 meter race. The 10,000 meter race was the final event of the first day of competition. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
The women’s 800 meter competitors make their way down final straight away. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
Russian long jumper Darya Klishina flies through the air during the second round of the women’s long jump. Klishina finished the event in second place with a distance of 6.88 meters. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
American middle distance runner Dana Mecke lines up to compete in the women’s 800 meter race. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
American long jumper Brittney Reese reacts as she finds out that her previous jump was a fault. Reese finished the event in fourth place with a final distance of 6.86 meters. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
Section one of the women’s 800 meter national race round the corner after completing the first 400 meters of the race. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
French long jumper Éloyse Lesueur shows her flexibility as she flies through the air during the women’s long jump event. Lesueur finished the event in third with a final distance of 6.87 meters. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
Competitors in the men’s 10,000 meter race make their way around the Bowerman curve. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
American distance runner Galen Rupp stands next to the official time board after setting the American record in the 10,000 meters. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
Kenyan middle distance runner Job Kinyor takes his victory lap after placing first in the men’s 800 meter race with a time of 1:44.70. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
Great Britain middle distance runner Michael Rimmer lines up to compete in the men’s 800 meter invitational.The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
Argentine shot putter and South American shot put record holder Germán Luján Lauro launches the shot put during the men’s shot put competition. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
American middle distance runner Chanelle Price places first in the women’s 800 meter race with a time of 2:00.38. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
American shot put thrower Reese Hoffa reacts after taking the lead during his fifth round throw. Hoffa finished the event in first place with a distance of 21.64 meters. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
Mens 800 meter winner Job Kinyor of Kenya hands a bouquet of flowers to a young fan after completing his victory lap. Kinyor finished the race with a time of 1:44.70. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Michael Shaw/Emerald)
Russian long jumper Darya Klishina lunges into the long jump pit during the women’s long jump competition. Klishina placed second in the competition with an equal world lead of 6.88. The 40th annual Prefontaine Classic welcomes world-class athletes to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 30 – 31 2014. (Andrew Seng/Emerald)
Barry Jahn
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse