Kenyan born Bahrain athlete, Ruth Jebet is proving to be the top challenger in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase as she on Thursday was the only athlete to attain a Meet Record at the Stockholm Diamond League.
The weather conditions didn’t really favour the athletes as they had to compete on a wet track, following the rainfall at the Bauhaus Galan.
However the conditions did not stop the likes of Jebet who defied the it and attacked the Steeplechase World Record (WR) of 8:58.81, although she faded in the last 400m but she was still able to run an MR of 9:08.40. Beatrice Chepkoech finished 2nd with 9:22.56 and Sofia Assefa upgraded to 3rd in 9:27.73 following the disqualification of LaCaze.
Only two people have gone under 9 minutes and Jebet is one of them Already we have seen the ensuing rivalry with Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng who won last week in Oslo. It could only be a matter of time before either of the ladies break the WR.
The other standout performance came in the women’s 100m Hurdles from World Leader, Kendra Harrison. Although Harrison did not run an MR or WR, but churning out 12.66s in a wet track to win was very impressive. She took control of the race from start to finish and won convincingly.
Having run the second fastest time in history at the Eugene Diamond League with a time of 12.24s, Harrison who was initially competing in the 400m Hurdles is always a delight to watch. It was an American 1-2-3, with Nia Ali finishing 2nd in 12.85s and Queen Harrison 3rd in 12.87s.
In the men’s 100m, after an initial delay because of a false start from Andrew Robertson, Turkey’s Jak Ali Harvey won the race in 10.18s with Ivory Coast’s Ben Youseff Meite 2nd in 10.25s and Daniel Bailey 3rd in 10.31s.
Great Britain’s Dina Asher Smith won the women’s 200m in 22.72s as Jamaica’s Simone Facey placed 2nd with 22.81 and Desiree Henry 3rd in 22.88s.
All three finishers in the women’s 400m came close to winning it, however they had to settle with Novelene Williams-Mills winning in 52.29s, Anyika Onuora 2nd in 52.46 and Libania Greont 3rd in 52.62
The men’s 400m Hurdles threw up some upsets as former World champion Bershawn Jackson was disqualified for a false-start, and his compatriot Michael Tinsley Did Not finish his race. Javier Coulson came back to winning ways taking the race in 49.43s with Kerron Clement 2nd in 49.87s and Patryk Dobek 3rd in 49.89s.
Another surprise came in the men’s 800m where WR holder David Rudisha was beaten to 4th place. Ferguson Rotich won the race in in 1:45.07 with Pierre-Ambroise Bosse 2nd in 1:45.23 and Adam Kszczot 3rd in 1:45.41. Rudisha finished with a time of 1:45.69
Poland’s Angelika Cichocka won the women’s 1500m with a Season’s Best of 4:03.25, outrunning Meraf Bahta in the home straight, with the Swedish athlete finishing 2nd in 4:04.37 and Gudaf Tsegay 3rd in 4:04.37.
It was a 1-2-3 for Ethiopia in the 5000m, in fact all top six were Ethiopians. It was not to be for Muktar Edris as he lost steam to chase others in the last 150m with 10,000m runner Ibrahim Jeilan running a Personal Best of 13:03.22 to win. Yomif Kejelcha finished 2nd with 13:03.66 as Edris settled for 3rd in 13:05.54
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