Caster Semenya’s world record attempt in the 1K came up short during Friday’s Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, but her winning time of 2:31.01 still provided the highlight of the event as the 27-year-old South African became the sixth-fastest woman in world history.
The world record of 2:28.98 has stood for 22 years now, thanks to Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, whose 1996 world record of 4:12.56 in the mile also still stands today.
Americans Ce’Aira Brown and Kaela Edwards placed second and third behind Semenya on Friday night, clocking 2:35.85 and 2:36.13. Their respective Diamond League debuts were good enough to rank them as the eighth- and ninth-fastest women in American history at the distance.
Other American highlights in Rabat included Christian Coleman’s win in the 100 meters. The 2017 world silver medalist had not raced since late May because of a hamstring injury, which forced him to drop out of Diamond League meets in Paris and Lausanne. It took all he had to beat countryman Ronnie Baker on Friday night as both men clocked 9.98, a new meeting record.
Noah Lyles, 20 and the USATF champion and 2018 world leader at 9.88, suffered a poor start and finished a hundredth of a second behind in 9.99 for third. He did, however, win the intro game by far.
Two-time USATF 5K champion Paul Chelimo entered Rabat hoping to earn his first Diamond League win, but despite leading the penultimate lap of the men’s 3K, his kick was no match for that of world indoor 3K champion Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia. The 20-year-old put a huge gap on the field just after the bell signifying the final lap—perhaps to avoid another late-race altercation—and won the race by more than a second in 7:32.93, a new meet record and world lead. Chelimo faded in the final meters and finished fourth in 7:34.83.
Molly Huddle, who recently won her fourth straight U.S. title in the 10K, struggled to find her groove in her first 5K since competing at the IAAF World Championships last summer. The 27-time national champion placed 10th in 15:21.24, a full minute behind race winner Hellen Obiri, who set a world leading mark of 14:21.75. Runner-up Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands ran 14:22.34, a new European record; she is now the seventh-fastest woman in world history.
Continuing the theme of top Americans not making the podium, Rio Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz placed 10th in the men’s 1500 meters. The bright side? It was his best time of the season at 3:35.17.
No comments:
Post a Comment