2005 World Athletics Final Day 1 Distance Recap: Lagat, Defar, Jamal Impress
by Bob Ramsak
(c) 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Septemer 9, 2005

MONTE CARLO - Commanding wins by Bernard Lagat, Meseret Defar and Maryam Yusef Jamal were the highlights of the first day of the season-capping World Athletics Final.

Propelled by a 53.9 final lap, Lagat sped to an impressive 7:38.00 upset win in the 3000, beating among others Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Augustine Choge.

"I was very confident when it came down to my kick," said Lagat, who wasn't even sure he'd get to contest the event until last night. "I knew I could kick even a 25 [second split] for the last 200. As long as I didn't let any big gaps develop."

He never did. Never further back than fifth, Lagat managed to match every move, not only by the Kenyans, but by Ethiopians Tariku Bekele as well.

Kipchoge, last year's winner, was second (7:38.95) with Choge third (7:39.99).

Lagat returns tomorrow in the 1500 where he'll face perhaps the strongest field of the competitition. "Tomorrow is going to be fun," he said. "I'm ready to run against my guys again, the guys I've been running against all year."

With a 57.6 second last lap, Meseret Defar continued the evening's string of upsets with her victory over World champion Tirunesh Dibaba in the 5000m. Cruising past Dibaba with 150 metres to go, the 21-year-old Defar, the reigning Olympic champion and runner-up in Helsinki last month, ran to a commanding 14:45.87 win.

As expected, the race was an entirely Ethiopian affair, with Dibaba, Defar and Berhane Adere taking complete command of the race early on. With Dibaba, who this year claimed double victories at both the World Cross Country Championships and in Helsinki, leading, the trio pulled away from the field with three laps to go.

Dibaba led at the bell, but Defar, the year's world leader after her African record 14:28.98 victory in Brussels, was just biding her time waiting to strike. When she did, Dibaba couldn't respond, but still managed to hold on to second (14:46.84), less than a tenth of a second ahead of the fast-closing Adere (14:46.91).

Kenyans Ines Chenonge (14:54.43 - PB) and Lucy Wangui (15:00.20) led the best of the rest, finishing fourth and fifth.

Rounding out her impressive coming-out season, Maryam Yusef Jamal captured a stunning victory in the 1500m.

Blasting to the lead with 500 metres to go, the 20-year-old Ethiopian-born Bahraini built an insurmountable gap and eventually reached the line in 3:59.35, her third sub-four minute performance of the season, and most importantly to her, another commanding victory over World champion Tatyana Tomashova.

In Helsinki last month, Jamal was impeded on the backstretch of the final lap, and eventually finished fifth. In Rieti 12 days ago, Jamal bounced back with a world-leading 3:56.79. Here, with her bold move on the turn heading into the penultimate lap, she avoided a repeat of the Helsinki scenario.

With a strong homestretch performance, Tomashova made up much of the large gap Jamal created, but still finished nearly a second back in 4:00.28.

Russian Natalya Yevdokimova, who led the first 1000 metres of the race, held on for third (4:00.60), just ahead of Frenchwoman Bouchra Ghezielle's personal best 4:01.28.

Helsinki silver medallist Olga Yegorova was never in the hunt here, and finished well back in ninth (4:07.71).

When the competitors in the men's steeplechase were called to the line, inexplicably absent was two-time defending champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen. In his absence, Paul Kipsiele Koech turned in a Shaheen-like performance, leading virtually from the gun en route to an 8:07.91 win. Ezekiel Kemboi and Brimin Kipruto, second and third behind Shaheen in Helsinki, repeated their finish here, reaching the line about a second-and-a-half back.

As expected, Dorcus Inzikuru easily clinched the first World Athletics Final steeplechase crown. In command for much of the race, the petite Ugandan clocked 9:21.80, nearly four seconds ahead Pole Wioletta Janowska (9:25.47).

It was the sixth win in as many contests for the 23-year-old, who earlier in the season lowered the World best in the 2000 meter version of the event to 6:04.46 in Milan in early June before claiming the first World title in the event.

"I am so happy that I have finished the season successfully and without injury," Inzikuru said. "I think that I can break the world record next year." The record, 9:01.59, was set by Gulnara Samitova in 2004. Inzikuru is currently the second fastest ever.

As has been the case much of the season, the event's all-time performance list continued to be amended behind her. While Janowska just missed her own personal best, Jamaican Mardea Hyman again lowered the Central American and Caribbean record, this time to 9:27.21 to finish third, just ahead of Livia Toth (9:30.20), who set a new Hungarian record. Russian Yelena Zadorozhnaya continued to improve as well, finishing fifth here with a personal best 9:32.41

Competition concludes Saturday afternoon with the men's 800, 1500 and 5000, and women's  800 and 3000.

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