Dibaba Smashes 5000m
World Record in Oslo
Posted June 6th, 2008 at 10:00 PM by Bob Ramsak
Section: News & Results, Announcements, Track & Field
Tirunesh Dibaba made her first outing of the summer a memorable one after breaking the world record in the 5000m at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in the Norwegian capital.
For the second straight year, the Oslo meet played host to a new women’s standard in the event. This time around, it was Dibaba smashing the record that her compatriot Meseret Defar smashed last year.
This is a very joyous day for me today,” said Dibaba after her stunning 14:11.15 performance which eclipsed Defar’s performance by more than five-and-a-half seconds. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and this is a very special day for me.”
[For more on Dibaba’s record run, please see my story for the IAAF at http://www.iaaf.org/GLE08/news/newsid=45213.html ]
Three seconds outside record pace when reaching the 3000m point in 8:38.38, the two-time world 10,000m champion forged onwards, finding her rhythm, and by the end of the fourth kilometer, was a full second ahead of record schedule. Dibaba said she new she had the record in hand with two laps to go, which she covered in 2:10.
She arrived in Oslo with a 14:30.40 career best set at this meeting two years ago, but had run faster indoors, most recently in 2007 with her 14:27.42 World Record indoors. But like Defar last year, the margin left her nearly speechless. “I’m surprised that I broke it by that much,” she said. “Yes, very surprised. And I’m very happy.”
Kenyan Lucy Wangui was a distant second in 14:33.49, with Dibaba’s older sister, Ejegayehu third in 14:36.78.
The men’s 800, a face-off between rising young guns Abubaker Kaki and David Rudisha, was hoping to steal some thunder from the women’s event, where the season’s revelation, Pamela Jelimo was again playing a leading role. And the men’s contest did, with Kaki, the world indoor champion, taking a phenomenal and powering vicoty in 1:42.69, a world junior record for the 18-year-ld Sudanese.
Bringing to mind his gun-to-tape victory at the world indoor championships, Kaki immediately tucked in behind the pacemaker who took the field through 400m in just over 50 seconds and 600m in 1:17. And Kaki didn’t relent. For a fleeting moment it appeared that Rudisha, himself just 19, would challenge at the 600m point, but Kaki just sped around the final bend and powered towards the homestretch and across the line, nearly toppling the 1:42.4 meet record set by Sebastian Coe in 1979.
Rudisha, who in the end wasn’t a threat to Kaki, still crossed the line with an impressive 1:43.72, with South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi third (1:44.04).
Kaki’s heroics aside, Jelimo hardly disappointed in yet another sensational outing. The 18-year-old cruised to a 1:55.41 win, shy of the 1:54.99 she ran in Berlin last Sunday, but nonetheless winning by more than three seconds with a performance that only 10 women have ever bettered, to remain in the chase for the $1 million jackpot hunt.
Slovak Lucia Klocova was second this time in 1:58.89 and Jamaican Kenia Sinclair third in 1:59.99; the first seven all dipped under two minutes.
The men’s 1500m and mile produced a surprise sweep for Great Britain. Former Florida State star Tom Lancashire took a solid 3:35.33 win in the late afternoon’s 1500m, clocking 3:35.33, before Andrew Baddeley concluded the evening with a surprise –and quick—win in the meet’s signature event, the Dream Mile.
Berlin 1500m winner Augustine Choge charged to front entering the final turn, positioning himself nicely for the homestretch kick. But Baddeley, a 2007 world championships finalist had other ideas. Confidently striding past the Kenyan, Baddeley finished unchallenged to take the win in 3:49.38, the year’s fastest, ahead of Kenyan Haron Keitany (3:49.70) and Ethiopian Deresse Mekkonen (3:49.72).
The meet opened with a loaded field in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, which turned into an exhibition by world record holder Gulnara Galkina. Running at the front and very much alone after the pacesetter concluded her duties, the Russian nabed a 9:14.77 win the year’s fastest. Her compatriot Yekaterina Volkova was second in 9:18.24, followed by Donna McFarlane, whose 9:18.35 was an Australian record. Pole Wioletta Frankiewicz, who ran second to Galkina for much of the proceededings, faded to fifth over the last lap (9:25.20).
Jelimo included, five of the seven jackpot contenders remained alive in the $1 million chase: Bershawn Jackson in he 400m hurdles, Hussein Al-Sabee in the long jump, Josephine Onyia in the 100m hurdles, and Blanka Vlasic in the high jump.
After a brief break, the six-meet series resumes at th Golden Gala in Rome on Friday, July 11.
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Tags: 5000m, 5000m world record, exxonmobil bislett games, IAAF, Meseret Defar, norway, Oslo, record setting performance, tirunesh dibaba, world record
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