{"id":2005,"date":"2019-07-01T00:35:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T00:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/eugene-stanford-hassan-takes-historic-victory\/"},"modified":"2019-07-01T00:35:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T00:35:24","slug":"eugene-stanford-hassan-takes-historic-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/eugene-stanford-hassan-takes-historic-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugene \/ Stanford: Hassan Takes Historic Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
The field included world 1500m record-holder Genzebe Dibaba, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri, Olympic 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana and European 5000m champion Sifan Hassan, among others. After a swift 31-second opening 200m, the pace soon settled and the pacemaker took the field through 1000m in 2:45.75.<\/p>\n

Ayana was ultimately never a factor but the other big contenders were all still in the lead pack as they approached the final kilometre. Ethiopia\u2019s Letesenbet Gidey made an early break and led from Dibaba with 800m to go with Hassan and Germany\u2019s Konstanze Klosterhalfen also close behind.<\/p><\/div>\n

With 600m left, Dibaba started to fall behind, while Hassan and Klosterhalfen were gaining. Gidey took the bell at 7:13.97, with Hassan a little more than second back. Hassan passed Gidey with 250 metres left as Dibaba was now contending with Klosterhalfen. Hassan pulled away down the homestretch and went on to win in 8:18.49 \u2013 the fastest time in the world since 1993 and a three-second improvement on the European record.<\/div>\n
Klosterhalfen passed Dibaba and then Gidey to take second place in 8:20.07, also finishing inside the previous European record. Gidey finished third in an Ethiopian record of 8:20.27 while Dibaba was fourth (8:21.29) and Obiri sixth (8:27.26).<\/div>\n
In an exciting three-way finish, world cross-country champion Joshua Cheptegei held on to take victory in the men\u2019s two miles.<\/div>\n
The tightly bunched pack was led by a pacemaker through 880 yards in 2:03.4 and the first mile in 4:04.9. After the pacemaker stepped off, Selemon Barega, Cheptegei and Paul Chelimo were left to fight it out.<\/div>\n
Over the next lap Barega put some distance between Cheptegei and Chelimo, but Cheptegei made up the lost ground on the next lap, leaving Chelimo nearly three seconds off the pace with a lap to go. Cheptegei moved on to Barega\u2019s shoulder with 200 metres to go and passed him at the top of the final bend.<\/div>\n
Chelimo, meanwhile, was starting to motor and was closing with ever stride as he entered the home straight. Cheptegei passed Barega and for a moment it looked as though Chelimo\u2019s momentum would take him across the line first, but the Ugandan held on to take a narrow 8:07.54 victory over Chelimo, whose 28.63 last 200m left him .05 short. Barega faded to third in 8:08.69.<\/div>\n
After a surprise defeat in Oslo, Kenya\u2019s world steeplechase record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech was keen to assert her dominance in Stanford.<\/div>\n
A gap began to open after a quick 2:55.07 opening kilometre by Chepkoech, with Jeruto in second followed by Celliphine Chespol, world champion Emma Coburn and Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya. Although she had slipped off world record pace, Chepkoech had a 10-second gap on the field with a lap to go.<\/div>\n
Coburn, who had fallen earlier in the race, made up a bit of ground over the last two laps, but Chepkoech was a comfortable winner in a world-leading 8:55.58 \u2013 the fifth-fastest time in history \u2013 with Coburn second in 9:04.90 and Kiyeng third in 9:05.81.<\/div>\n
KIPYEGON MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN<\/b><\/div>\n
A slew of fast finishers made the most of the women\u2019s 1500m as Kenya\u2019s Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon \u2013 making her return to competition after maternity leave \u2013 held off final lap assaults by Great Britain\u2019s Laura Muir and USA\u2019s Shelby Houlihan.<\/div>\n
Kipyegon\u2019s last circuit of 61.33 put her 0.43 ahead of runner-up Muir, 3:59.04 to 3:59.47. Houlihan finished third in 3:59.64 with Ethiopia\u2019s Gudaf Tsegay taking fourth in 3:59.85.<\/div>\n
Timothy Cheruiyot retained his title in the Bowerman Mile, the Kenyan winning in a world-leading 3:50.49. Djibouti\u2019s Ayanleh Souleiman won the sprint for second (3:51.22) against the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen brothers Filip (3:51.28) and 18-year-old Jakob, (3:51.30).<\/div>\n
USA\u2019s Craig Engels was fourth in 3:51.60, while Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz was fifth in 3:52.26. World indoor record-holder Samuel Tefera finished eighth.<\/div>\n
Caster Seymenya cruised to a 1:55.70 victory in the women\u2019s 800m, improving on her own meeting record. USA\u2019s Ajee Wilson, Raevyn Rogers and Hanna Green filled the next three places, all with sub-1:59 clockings.<\/div>\n
BENJAMIN AND COLEMAN CRUISE TO WORLD-LEADING MARKS<\/b><\/div>\n
Perhaps the most impressive mark of the day on the men\u2019s side belonged to USA\u2019s Rai Benjamin, whose 47.16 in the men\u2019s 400m hurdles set the tone for the Pre Classic, as it was the initial running event on the programme.<\/div>\n
Starting in lane five, with the British Virgin Islands\u2019 Kyron McMaster on his right and Turkey\u2019s Yasmani Copello in lane four, Benjamin could dictate his own race. McMaster tried sticking with Benjamin for the first half, but Benjamin moved up a gear on the final bend and pulled ahead.<\/div>\n
He crossed the line in 47.16, the fastest time in the world this year and his second-best performance to date following his 47.02 PB from last year. McMaster finished a distant second in a season\u2019s best of 48.94.<\/div>\n
USA\u2019s Christian Coleman pulled away from world champion Justin Gatlin for a convincing win in the men\u2019s 100m in a world-leading 9.81 to Gatlin\u2019s 9.87. After being run down by Canada\u2019s Andre De Grasse in the Ostrava last week over 200m, the world indoor 60m record-holder showed no signs of fatigue as he established himself as the favourite for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. Great Britain\u2019s Zharnel Hughes finished third in 9.97.<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always good to run on home soil,\u201d said Coleman. \u201cI just compete and try to come out with a win, but, obviously, guys are steadily getting better and better and always running faster. It\u2019s going to take some pretty good training to get a gold medal at the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s 100m saw the Ivory Coast\u2019s Marie-Josee Ta Lou prevail over USA\u2019s Aleia Hobbs, 11.02 – 11.04. The anticipated clash between newcomer Sha\u2019Carri Richardson and two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce never quite materialised as Richardson placed fourth in 11.15 and Fraser-Pryce finished eighth.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nigeria\u2019s Blessing Okagbare was a surprise winner in the women\u2019s 200m. Great Britain\u2019s Dina Asher-Smith had the lead coming off the turn in lane four, but then Jamaica\u2019s double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson forged ahead as they headed to the finish. But Okagbare, running in lane eight, swept by Thompson in the final few meters to win in 22.05, just 0.01 shy of her own African record.<\/div>\n
Thompson finished in second in 22.21, while Asher-Smith held on for third in 22.42 and Bahrain\u2019s Salwa Eid Naser finished fourth in a Bahraini record of 22.51.<\/div>\n
Michael Norman\u2019s return to the west coast was reminiscent of his last victory in California when he sped to 43.35 in April. He was even with US compatriots Fred Kerley and Kahmari Montgomery, but powered his way to the line in 44.62. Montgomery finished second as Kerley faded to third, 45.12 to 45.33.<\/div>\n
Spain\u2019s Orlando Ortega won the men\u2019s 110m hurdles in 13.24 over France\u2019s Wilhem Belocian and Jamaica\u2019s Olympic and world champion Omar McLeod, who were both timed in 13.29 with the nod going to the Frenchman.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Brian Russell for the IAAF and the IAAF Diamond League<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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