By Bob Ramsak
STUTTGART -- Tactical victories by Meseret Defar and Bernard Lagat were the key performances on the middle & long distance program of the first day of the IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final on Saturday.
Defar bounced back from a pair of stinging defeats to take the 5000m in 14:53.82 to edge Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot (14:54.60), to avenge her loss of a week ago in Brussels over the same distance. The Kenyan led much of the race before Defar took over with just over 200m to go, covering the final lap in 58.7. Defar, who this event in 2005, will come back on Sunday and line up in the 3000.
Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia, the World Indoor 3000m silver medallist third in 14:58.76.
After a dawdling pace through 2600m, Lagat broke from the pack with about 250m to go to kick to a decisive victory in the 3000, the first track final of the unseasonably cool, damp and somewhat gloomy day at Mercedes Benz stadium. The 1500 and 5000m winner at last year’s World Championships, Lagat reached the finish in 8:02.97.
"After the disappointing Olympics, I won all my races and wanted to win today so bad," Lagat said. "I am very excited that it worked although it was tough strategically."
Tactical and sluggish from the outset, Isaac Songok led the tightly knit pack through the first 1000m in 2:50.05 with Mike Kigen leading the field through the second kilometer in 5:36.98, with the race still entirely up for grabs.
Defending champion Edwin Soi, the Beijing 5000m bronze medallist, looked ready to pounce midway through the backstraight, but couldn’t respond adequately to Lagat’s move. Matt Tegenkamp, the 3000m winner in Zagreb on Tuesday, did however, and looked poised to complete a U.S 1-2 finish before Soi fought back to edge the American at the line by a scant 0.01 seconds in 8:03.55. In the blanket finish Kigen was fourth in 8:03.63.
Gulnara Samitova-Galkina continued her stellar steeplechase season with another solid front-running effort with a meet record 9:21.73.
The Russian, who became the first woman to break the event’s nine-minute barrier in Beijing, was in control throughout, again rendering Olympic silver medallist Eunice Jepkorir (9:24.03). Her compatriot Ruth Bisibori Nyangau was third, just under 0.4 seconds behind.
Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain took her third straight World Athletics title in the 1500m, clocking 4:06.59. Unlike her early burst for the lead in Beijing, where she was a disappointing fifth, Jamal didn’t make her move past long-time leader Gelete Burka until about 180m remained. Burka, who didn’t reach the Olympic final, held on for second (4:07.45), fighting off quick-finishing Irina Lishchynska, the Olympic silver medallist (4:07.65). Briton Lisa Dobriksey (4:07.72) repeated her fourth place finish from Beijing with American Shannon Rowbury (4:08.16) fifth.
In another tactical race, World champion and Olympic bronze medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego kicked to victory in the 800 in 1:49.05, the slowest winning time in the six-year history of this meet.
Leading through the field through a sluggish half in just under 57 seconds, he was passed by the favorite Yusuf Saad Kamel, the former Kenyan Gregory Konchellah, and Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski as the trio headed into the final bend. But Yego regrouped in time to steal back the race over the final 35 meters. In the mad dash for home, Abraham Chepkirwok of Uganda took second (1:49.22), with Kamel third, and Lewandowski fourth, both credited with 1:49.40.
The highlight of the day was Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova’s world record in the women’s javelin throw. The Czech threw 72.28m, shattering the previous mark of 71.70m set by Osleidys Menendez of Cuba at the 2005 World championships in Helsinki. In addition to her $30,000 first prize, she nabbed a $100,000 world record bonus.
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
