{"id":1428,"date":"2017-07-01T21:33:55","date_gmt":"2017-07-01T21:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/paris-hassan-holds-off-kipyegon\/"},"modified":"2017-07-01T21:33:55","modified_gmt":"2017-07-01T21:33:55","slug":"paris-hassan-holds-off-kipyegon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/paris-hassan-holds-off-kipyegon\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris: Hassan Holds Off Kipyegon"},"content":{"rendered":"
On a blustery night in the elegant Stade Charlety \u2013 new home to the Meeting de Paris after its years in the vast bowl of the Stade de France \u2013 Hassan, who heads this year\u2019s world list with 3:56.14, had the strength to take maximum points on the road to the final. She clocked 3:57.10, the third fastest time seen this year, with Kipyegon second in a season\u2019s best of 3:57.51 ahead of Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, who claimed third place in a personal best of 3:59.55 ahead of Poland\u2019s Angelika Cichocka, whose 4:01.61 was also a personal best.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very difficult \u2013 I think I pushed it too much from the beginning,\u201d said Hassan. \u201cThis win is very important to me because this was a very strong field, so the victory is fantastic. It also gives me confidence, which everybody needs before the World Championships in London.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

The judgement to move this meeting to the more intimate surrounds of the 20,000-capacity Charlety Stadium \u2013 built in 1938 and elegantly modified before hosting the 1994 IAAF Grand Prix final \u2013 proved inspired. The stadium was not packed out but the atmosphere was terrific, and late evening sunlight after a day of downpour seemed a fitting reward for the organisers.<\/div>\n
The men\u2019s pole vault, as one might expect, was a huge focus of interest given the presence of national treasure Renaud Lavillenie, only now getting into his full run-up after a winter in which he had to overcome some troublesome injuries.<\/div>\n
In what turned out as another fascinating tactical battle, he had to give best again to the US vaulter who beat him at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, and who won last weekend\u2019s US Championships with his first six-metre jump, Sam Kendricks.<\/div>\n
In their pre-event press conference, Kendricks said Lavillenie always asked him, jokingly, what height he would be coming in at, as he knew he would always start at the first and lowest option.<\/div>\n
The same pattern obtained here, as Kendricks ticked off first-time clearances at 5.37m, 5.52m, 5.62m and 5.72m. The Frenchman, meanwhile, took the opposite strategy, coming in at 5.62m, which he cleared first time, and then passing to 5.77m.<\/div>\n
But after two failures, Lavillenie, in dayglo pink, had to clear his third attempt for his gamble to work out \u2013 and the pressure on him increased as the man who had taken bronze behind his silver at the Rio Olympics achieved 5.77m on his third attempt.<\/div>\n
Lavillenie, on this occasion, was unable to rise to the challenge, and Kendricks rounded off his night by clearing 5.82m before retiring after what was a potentially telling victory.<\/div>\n
\u201cTonight I feel very frustrated,\u201d said Lavillenie. \u201cI am not here in Paris for this kind of result. But strong wind was a problem all through the competition. With these conditions, it\u2019s very hard to perform.\u201d<\/div>\n
Germany\u2019s Olympic javelin champion Thomas Rohler admitted on the eve of the competition that wind was the one thing he found difficult when it came to competition.<\/div>\n
That may have lessened the surprise that the man who landed his third and fourth 90-metre-plus throws in Ostrava on Wednesday night could only manage third place here with 87.23m, as fellow German Johannes Vetter won with 88.74m, ahead of the Czech Republic\u2019s Jakub Vadlejch, who equalled his personal best with 88.02m.<\/div>\n
It was business as usual in the men\u2019s high jump as Mutaz Essa Barshim, who heads this year\u2019s world list with 2.38m, secured victory with a first-time clearance of 2.35m that proved beyond any rival on the night.<\/div>\n
Up until that point Ukraine\u2019s Bogdan Bondarenko had been leading, thanks to Barshim\u2019s one foul before clearing 2.32m. And while the 2013 world champion was unable to go higher, his faultless progress to that point after making a late start to the season at last month\u2019s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo will doubtless produce growing confidence.<\/div>\n
\u201cEverything is going according to plan, and my coach is very satisfied,\u201d said Barshim, who despite being second on the world all-time list behind world record-holder Javier Sotomayor is still seeking his first outdoor global title.<\/div>\n
Sadly there was no 25th birthday present for Italy\u2019s European champion Gianmarco Tamberi, attempting to get back to competitive mode after the serious ankle injury he suffered on the eve of last year\u2019s Olympic Games. Tamberi, who has jumped 2.18m and 2.20m respectively in his first two competitions this year, started at his season\u2019s best height here but could not clear it.<\/div>\n
Jamaica\u2019s Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson, who confirmed here yesterday that she would only be doing the shorter sprint at this year\u2019s World Championships, produced the goods, winning in 10.91.<\/div>\n
Thompson was pushed to the line by Ivory Coast\u2019s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who finished second in a season\u2019s best of 10.96 ahead of Nigeria\u2019s Blessing Okagbare, who also clocked a season\u2019s best of 11.09, with Ta Lou\u2019s compatriot Murielle Ahoure fourth in 11.10.<\/div>\n
\u201cThe result is not bad especially after two false starts,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cBut this was a great preparation for the World Championships. Coming straight from the Jamaican Trials, it was important to get back in the blocks. It is different weather in Jamaica! But I am glad for my first time in Paris. In this moment I am exactly where I want to be, feeling good, feeling excited with one month to go to the World Championships.\u201d<\/div>\n
There was more sprinting success for the Ivory Coast as Ben Youssef Meite won the 100m, not an IAAF Diamond League event here, in a season\u2019s best of 9.99 after 41-year-old Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, who won the world title in this city 14 years ago, had been disqualified for a false start.<\/p>\n

Michael Rowbottom for the IAAF and the IAAF Diamond League<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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