{"id":1675,"date":"2018-05-26T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-26T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/eugene-semenya-dominates-kigen-and-houlihan-surprise\/"},"modified":"2018-05-26T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-26T23:00:00","slug":"eugene-semenya-dominates-kigen-and-houlihan-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/eugene-semenya-dominates-kigen-and-houlihan-surprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugene: Semenya Dominates, Kigen And Houlihan Surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The South African seized command of the race with 300 metres to run after covering her first lap in 57.9, well behind the pacemaker who went through in 57.25.<\/p>\n<p>From there, Semenya steadily shifted through the gears and down the home straight, Francine Niyonsaba simply had no answer to the world champion\u2019s pace, with Ajee\u2019 Wilson coming through strongly for second in 1:56.86. Niyonsaba took third in 1:56.88.<\/p><\/div>\n<div>Semenya\u2019s time was the fastest 800m ever run by a woman on US soil, and the 27-year-old was suitably delighted with the run. \u201cIt was an amazing race,\u201d she said. \u201cI saw the split was 57 so I tried to maintain 57 again.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><link http:\/\/https:\/\/youtu.be\/XoQj8kI9Y5o _blank external-link-new-window \"Opens internal link in current window\">Watch the race on YouTube<\/link>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div><b>CHERUIYOT TAKES THE MILE SPOILS, INGEBRIGTSEN THE RECORDS<\/b><\/div>\n<div>In what was the final international meeting at Hayward Field before renovations begin, there was a fitting climax and farewell to the historic stadium in the Bowerman Mile.<\/div>\n<div>Timothy Cheruiyot cracked the 3:50 barrier to take victory, but for the second year straight it was Norwegian wunderkind Jakob Ingebrigtsen who stole the show, finishing fourth in 3:52.28 to set a world U18 and European U20 record.<\/div>\n<div>The previous world U18 best was held by Kenya\u2019s Isaac Songok at 3:54.56, and early in the race it looked like Ingebrigtsen may be struggling among the best milers in the world as he ran at the back of the pack.<\/div>\n<div>However, the 17-year-old crept through the field on the penultimate lap, charging up the home straight to challenge world champion Elijah Manangoi for third, the Kenyan just about holding him off with 3:52.18. Ingebrigtsen\u2019s mark carved four seconds off his previous best, and the teenager is now looking forward to competing on home soil at the Oslo Diamond League next month.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting the race to be that fast, of course the pace was a bit breaky the first couple of laps so I had a lot more to go the last lap,\u201d he said. \u201cIt felt really good coming into the home stretch.\u201d<\/div>\n<div>Up front, Cheruiyot was once again highly impressive, the world 1500m silver medallist showing Ethiopia\u2019s Samuel Tefera a clean pair of heels around the final turn, kicking off the front to take victory in 3:49.87 to Tefera\u2019s 3:51.26.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cI like Eugene, every time I come I improve my time,\u201d said Cheruiyot. \u201cMy goal for the season is to run under 3:28 in Monaco.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><b>KIGEN UPSETS THE STEEPLECHASE BIG GUNS<\/b><\/div>\n<div>There was a shock result in the men\u2019s 3000m steeplechase as unheralded Kenyan Benjamin Kigen overturned compatriot Conseslus Kipruto and Olympic silver medallist Evan Jager of USA.<\/div>\n<div>After a slow early pace \u2013 1000m was reached in 2:43, 2000m in 5:30 \u2013 Kipruto appeared in cruise control at the front, the race apparently playing into the hands of the lightning-fast Olympic and world champion. However, as Kipruto began to wind up the pace in the final lap he had unwanted company in the shape of Kigen, who blasted by him entering the back straight and swiftly opened a gaping advantage.<\/div>\n<div>Kipruto simply had no answer, and it was soon clear that he would taste defeat in his specialist event for the first time since 2016, leaving aside his dropout in Rabat last summer.<\/div>\n<div>Kigen was awkward off the last barrier but by then the damage was done, the 24-year-old hitting the finish all alone in 8:09.07. Kipruto edged a photo finish with Jager for second, both credited with 8:11.71.<\/div>\n<div><b>HOULIHAN\u2019S BIG SURPRISE<\/b><\/div>\n<div>The upsets continued in the women\u2019s 1500m, Shelby Houlihan timing her run perfectly to charge past race favourites Laura Muir and Jenny Simpson as the line approached, the US athlete hitting the line in 3:59.06. Muir claimed second with 3:59.30 while Simpson, who had led the pack throughout the race behind the pacemakers, faded to third in 3:59.37.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cGoing into the last 300 I said I\u2019ll try to switch gears every 100, and I felt good at that point,\u201d said Houlihan. \u201cI hoped it\u2019d be enough to catch them and it was. I was picturing winning the last few weeks and it\u2019s surreal for it to play out the way it did.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><b>DIBABA DOMINATES IN OUTDOOR DEBUT<\/b><\/div>\n<div>Ethiopia\u2019s Genzebe Dibaba was once again dominant in the women\u2019s 5000m, the Olympic 1500m champion showing an impressive turn of speed in the final 400 metres to take victory in 14:26.89, well clear of fellow Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, who clocked 14:30.29.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cI\u2019m in good shape and training is going well,\u201d said Dibaba. \u201cI can run faster, it just depends on the pacemakers and their speed.\u201d<\/div>\n<div>After a disappointing outing in Doha earlier this month, Hellen Obiri showed signs she is returning to form by finishing third in 14:35.03.<\/div>\n<div>There was another small piece of athletics history etched in the books in the international mile, where Australia\u2019s Luke Mathews became the 400th athlete to break the sub-four-minute mile at Hayward Field, Mathews playing his cards late and to great effect when swooping to victory in 3:57.02. Drew Hunter claimed a decent second in 3:57.29, with fellow US athlete Henry Wynne third in 3:57.61.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cIt means a heap for me,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cI\u2019m a bit of a running nerd, so I\u2019ve watched about every race ever of track and field on YouTube. It\u2019s really special.\u201d<\/div>\n<div>On a day when nostalgia hung in the air about the past \u2013 as more than 12,000 fans bid an emotional farewell to the much-loved stadium \u2013 there was no shortage of excitement about the future, particularly the sense that when the 2021 IAAF World Championships come to town, the new-and-improved Hayward Field will make a memorable host.<\/div>\n<div><i>Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF and the IAAF Diamond League<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caster Semenya produced another peerless display of middle-distance running to set a meeting...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"city":[],"class_list":["post-1675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1675"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=1675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}