STUTTGART — It has been a frustrating year for 24-year-old Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar. She first lost her world record at the 5000m to teammate Tirunesh Dibaba; she then failed to retain the 5000-meter title in the Olympic final where she finished a disappointing third.
But her fortunes changed this weekend at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart where she doubled the 5000m on Saturday and the 3000m on Sunday, winning both races.
In both the 3000m and 5000m, Meseret Defar’s biggest rival was Kenyan runner Vivian Cheruiyot, who had beaten Defar the previous week in Brussels. In the women’s 3000-meter race, she set the pace at the start and led until the final kilometer. But she couldn’t shake off Defar. When the Ethiopian began her kick with 250m to go, Cheruiyot flagged. Defar went on to win in 8:43.60. Cheruiyot placed second in 8:44.64 while Jane Kiptoo, also from Kenya came in third running 8:47.65.
In the 5,000-meter race, Meseret Defar crossed the line in 14:53.82 edging out Cheruiyot (14:54.60) by under a second. Meselech Melkamu (Ethiopia) placed third in 14:58.76.
The focus of last week’s AT News and winner of the Golden League’s $1 million jackpot, Pamela Jelimo, extended her winning streak in the 800m with her 14th consecutive victory, running a 1:56.23.
In the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase on Sunday Paul Kipsiele Koech ran incredibly well in chilly temperatures. The 26-year-old Kenyan went out on his own to win easily in 8:05.35—ten seconds ahead of his teammates Ezekiel Kemboi (8:15.32) and Richard Mateelong (8:16.05). “I actually wanted to run under eight minutes, but without pacemakers and in this cold weather it wasn’t possible today unfortunately,” said the Kenyan who has the fastest 3000-meter time in the world this year, 8:00.57, and has run under eight minutes on several occasions. Koech’s victory Sunday was his fourth consecutive World Athletics victory.
The women’s 3000-meter steeplechase was a repeat of last month’s Olympics. Olympic champion and world-record holder Gulnara Galkina (Russia) won her duel against rival Eunice Jepkorir in 9:21.73. Jepkorir finished less than three seconds later in 9:24.38. The race was a close one until the last 600 meters when Galkina dropped the hammer and surged ahead of Eunice. Jepkorir’s strong performance at the World Athletics Final demonstrates that Kenyan women are beginning to follow the example of the men who have dominated the steeplechase event for years.
In the men’s 5,000m, last year’s champion, Kenyan runner Edwin Soi, won again. His rivals had no chance matching his finishing kick as he broke the tape at 13:22.81. Moses Kipsiro (Uganda) was second in 13:23.02, while third place went to the Kenyan Micah Kogo in 13:23.37.
The American’s had a strong showing in the men’s 3000-meter race. Bernard Lagat (USA) won in 8:02.97. His victory ended second-place finisher Edwin Soi‘s (Kenya/8:03.55) chances for a repeat win. Third went to KIMbia’s Matt Tegenkamp (USA) who ran 8:03.56.
Six Kenyans Run Under an Hour at the Rotterdam Half-Marathon
It was an exciting photo finish at the Rotterdam Half-Marathon on Sunday. Fellow Kenyans Patrick Makau Musyoki and Evans Cheruiyot were given the same time of 59:29, but the win went to Musyoki. Both men missed the course record (which Cheruiyot had set a year ago) by only 12 seconds in cold conditions and gusting winds. Third place went to Wilson Chebet (Kenya) who was only four seconds behind in 59:33.
This consistently high-class race also had three Kenyans who broke the sub-one hour barrier: Paul Kosgei (59:37), Charles Munyeki, (59:44) and Joseph Maregu (59:52).
The women’s field was not as deep, but a course record was set. Lydia Cheromei (Kenya) ran a personal best on this fast course with a 68:35 and broke her own course record by 38 seconds. A long ways behind, the Dutch runner Ilse Pol, finished in second place with 74:17.
Irina Mikitenko now the Eighth-Fastest 10K Women Ever
Irinia Mikitenko has run the fastest 10K on the roads this year. © www.photorun.net
Irinia Mikitenko has run the fastest 10K on the roads this year. © www.photorun.net
Irina Mikitenko has returned in style. After suffering from back problems which prevented her from running the Olympic Marathon, the 36-year-old German runner achieved a convincing win in 30:57 at the German 10K Championships in Karlsruhe. This performance took her to number eight on the all-time list. Apart from a German record, Mikitenko’s time was the fastest road 10K in the world thus far this year.
“I wanted to win and see what kind of shape I was in after having a break from competition,” said Mikitenko, who took the lead from the start, running in cool, wet weather on a loop course. For the first four laps Mikitenko ran with rival Sabrina Mockenhaupt. But pulled away during the fifth lap. Mockenhaupt, who is preparing for the Frankfurt Marathon on October 26, came in second in 31:50.
“When I saw the 5K split of 15:27, I thought, ‘oh, that’s really fast.’ I then tried to keep that pace going and didn’t have any problems,” said Irina Mikitenko, who broke her own German record of 31:28 which had stood for five years. She improved this year’s world best (previously held by Hilda Kibet of the Netherlands) by four seconds. “I shall run a marathon this autumn. Since I felt very good today, I’ll make a quick decision where that will be,” said Mikitenko who has won all six races that she has competed in this year—the pinnacle of which was her triumph at the London Marathon last April.
Falk Cierpinski won the men’s race in 29:14.
Olympic champion Constantina Tomescu-Dita to Run the Chicago Marathon
The women’s 2008 Olympic Marathon champion, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, will be running another high-profile race this year. This week, she announced that she will run the Chicago Marathon on October 12. The Chicago Marathon is part of the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series along with Boston, London, Berlin and New York.
The purse at Chicago is a large one: $125,000 dollars and a chance to score points in the WMM series. In the rankings for the 2008-2009 season, Tomescu-Dita shares the lead with the Boston Marathon winner Dire Tune (Ethiopia) as well as German runner Irina Mikitenko.
The verdict is still out whether or not Tomescu-Dita can bounce back after only 8 weeks of rest since the Olympics. Competing for the purse will be the Ethiopians Bezunesh Bekele (2:23:09 PR) and Worknesh Tola (2:25:37 PR), as well as the Russians Alevtina Biktimirova (2:25:12 PR) and Lidiya Grigoryeva (2:25:10 PR).
“I’m looking forward to returning to Chicago because I’ve run some of my best races there,” said Tomescu-Dita, who won the 2004 race and placed second a year later with a personal best of 2:21:30.
William Kipsang is the top seed in the men’s field at Chicago. The 31-year-old Kenyan won the Rotterdam Marathon and set the course record in April with a 2:05:49 (fifth-fastest in the world this year).