2012 Oslo Diamond League Recap: Bolt Reigns, Chemos Wins Historic Steeple, Ethiopian 5k Trials, Dream Mile and More

By LetsRun.com
June 7, 2012

Usain Bolt coming from behind to beat Asafa Powell in 9.79 was the highlight of the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, but the meet was full of top flight action. In the sprints Sally Pearson and Javier Culson got world leaders in the hurdles.

The women's steeple saw the first non World or Olympic race with more than one runner under 9:10 as Milcah Chemos got the impressive win. In the unofficial Ethiopian Olympic Trials, Dejen Gebremeskel won the men's 5000m as Kenenisa Bekele continued to improve, Asbel Kiprop won the Dream Mile, Abeba Arigawe showed she's a force in the 1500m, plus Chaunte Lowe won the high jump.

We highlight the action below with the Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell match-up first and then go to the distance races women first.

Men's 100m: Bolt Challenged by Powell

We usually start with the distance races but if Usain Bolt ran that means he usually gets top billing. Asafa Powell put up a good fight here but Bolt was just too good and got the win by .06 in 9.85.

If you live in the US you can watch it below.

Bolt's performance wasn't as good as in Rome where he ran 9.76 into the wind, but Asafa deserves credit for not giving this one away. He pushed Bolt until the final 10m.

LetsRun.com (LRC) Quick Take (QT): If Asafa Powell somehow does the unthinkable and becomes a serious factor on the world scene, mark this race down as the turning point. For those of you that watched it, did he not seem more happy and confident in his own skin after the race than normal? We guess he had good reason to as Bolt had to work for this one.

Wind:+0.6
Rank Athlete Nation Result Reaction time
1
JAM
9.79
MR
0.157
2
JAM
9.85
SB
0.156
3
JAM
10.10
0.162
4
CAN
10.20
SB
0.139
5
RSA
10.30
0.159
6
GBR
10.40
0.157
7
ITA
10.52
0.159
 
GBR
DQ
R 162.7
 

On the boards: Bolt wins Oslo in 9.79, but....POWELL!!!

Women's 1500m: Aregawi Still Best in the World as She Wins Stacked Race
This race featured the four fastest performers of 2012: Abeba Aregawi and Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia,  Helen Obiri of Kenya and Morgan Uceny of the USA, who swept the top 4 spots in Rome with Aregawi, Dibaba, and Obiri all going sub 4. The most shocking performance at Rome was Aregawi running 3:56.54 to defeat Dibaba.

Well, Aregawi beating Dibaba is no longer a shocker as it happened again here fairly convincingly - this time in a tactical race over the last 100m as Aregawi won in 4:02.48 to Dibaba's 4:03.28. Anna Mishchenko moved up to third and Helen Obiri was fourth. Morgan Uceny did not have much the last 100m and finished sixth.

A 68.32 second lap threw out any chance of a fast time here. Norwegian Ingvill Måkestad Bovim led at the bell and got the home crowd excited.

There were a lot of people still in contention here with 100m to go but Aregawi just powered away for the win down the final straight. Fast race or slow race, she's clearly the best in the world right now.

QT1: Uceny was in good position with 100m to go, but did not have a lot of pop the last 100m. Not what she wanted heading into the Olympic Trials, but she is still the clear #1 heading into the Trials.

QT2: Is Uceny any worse condition wise from where she was last year or is the rest of the world just a lot better? Last year, when she got the first Diamond League victory of her career in Lausanne, the race was somewhat tactical like today and Uceny went through 1100 in 3:03 and finished in 4:05 and got a big victory. Today, she went through 1100 in 3:03 and finished in 4:05 and got smoked.

QT3: We almost forgot that Anna Pierce was in this race as she never really did anything. At 250, the leading 7 separated themselves from everyone else and Pierce wasn't one of those 7. That being said, she'll be in the hunt for an Olympic spot in a few weeks.

Rank Athlete Nation Result
1
ETH
4:02.42
2
ETH
4:03.28
3
UKR
4:03.33
SB
4
KEN
4:04.42
5
MAR
4:04.45
6
USA
4:05.30
7
NOR
4:06.31
8
USA
4:06.91
9
GBR
4:07.49
SB
10
POL
4:07.87
11
SVK
4:07.99
NR
12
ESP
4:08.82
 
RUS
DNF

Intermediate times:
400m Luchkina, Anna (RUS) 1:05.62
800m Luchkina, Anna (RUS) 2:13.94
1200m Måkestad Bovim, Ingvill (NOR) 3:17.97

Women's Steeple: Milcah Chemos Wins Again in the Fastest Competitive Steeple Outside of the Olympics or World Champs
Milcah Chemos
of Kenya ran away from Ethiopian rivals Sofia Assefa and Hiwot Ayalew on the final lap to win her 8th Diamond League title in a personal best of 9:07.14 as the top 3 all broke 9:10. This was the first steeplechase ever outside of the World Championships or Olympics where more than one woman broke 9:10.

Pacemaker Lidya Chepkurui did an excellent job in this one. Chepkurui has started to make a name for herself by pace making and then staying in and finishing the race. She took the field out the first kilometer in 3:01.86 and the sub 9:10 clocking was on.

Assefa and Ayalew and Chemos were together until the final lap. A 67.56 final lap gave Chemos the win, the Kenyan national record (previous record 9:07.41 by Eunice Jepkorir for silver in Beijing), and made her the fourth fastest women of all-time and first non Russian.

All Time steeple performers

1 8:58.81 Gulnara Galkina RUS 09/07/1978 1 Beijing (National Stadium) 17/08/2008
2 9:06.57 Ekaterina Volkova RUS 16/02/1978 1 Osaka 27/08/2007
3 9:07.03 Yuliya Zaripova RUS 26/04/1986 1 Daegu 30/08/2011
4 9:07.14 Milcah Chemos Cheywa KEN 24/02/1986 1 Oslo (Bislett) 07/06/2012
5 9:07.32 Marta Domínguez ESP 03/11/1975 1 Berlin 17/08/2009
6 9:07.41 Eunice Jepkorir KEN 17/02/1982 2 Beijing (National Stadium) 17/08/2008
7 9:09.00 Sofia Assefa ETH 14/11/1987 2 Oslo (Bislett) 07/06/2012
8 9:09.19 Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova RUS 08/04/1983 2 Osaka 27/08/2007
9 9:09.61 Hiwot Ayalew ETH 06/03/1990 3 Oslo (Bislett) 07/06/2012

QT: Chemos is having to work harder this year to win. Her 3 wins have been 9:15, 9:13, and now 9:07, last year the fastest she ran was 9:12.89.

QT2: Whereas Chemos had broken 9:10 before (2009 Worlds) this was a huge pr for Assefa (9:15.04 previous best) and Ayalew (9:15.84 best from Pre last week). Ayalew was a 9:23 runner last year.

QT3: Considering Gulnara Galkina ran 8:58.81 in the heat of Bejing and the men consistently run within 10 seconds of the world record we expect more and more steeples being won under 9:10 to be the norm. The event is getting stronger. Chemos has won $80,000 now for her 8 Diamond League wins (plus a $40,000 bonus).

Rank Athlete Nation Result
1
KEN
9:07.14
AR,MR
2
ETH
9:09.00
NR
3
ETH
9:09.61
PB
4
KEN
9:25.21
SB
5
KEN
9:27.40
6
GER
9:33.10
SB
7
KEN
9:33.19
8
ETH
9:36.40
SB
9
GBR
9:38.45
PB
10
ETH
9:39.09
11
NED
10:21.29

Intermediate times:|
1000m Chepkurui, Lidya (KEN) 3:01.86
2000m Chemos, Milcah (KEN) 6:08.83

Asbel Kiprop Gets Dream Mile #3
Asbel Kiprop
won his third dream mile with ease.  

The pace went out quickly in 54.53 and 1:51.61, but a slow 3rd quarter mile (60.41 for 2:52.01) bunched up the field at the bell. Kiprop assumed the lead at the bell and led into the backstretch.

Even though the field was right on him, Kiprop slowly opened up a lead and the powered away the final 100m. He had time to waive to the crowd in the final meters getting the win in 3:49.22.

Caleb Ndiku just held off Mekonnen Gebremedhin for 2nd, 3:50.00 to 3:50.02.

QT: A sub 3:50 mile is a piece of cake for Kiprop. What's more impressive is how he is defeating the fields with ease in a 3:50 race. As for Kiprop's splits, we had him 56.30 for first 409 meters, then 57.6 for 400, 59.3, and 55.8.

Final Lap of Men's Mile

QT2: You can talk about Bring Back the mile but one of the problems with the mile is guys have to run the 1st turn in lane 2 and 3 as was the case today so a little extra distance is likely covered.

QT3: 17 Year Old Hamza Driouch led until the bell. He clearly has a bright future and that got him his own message board thread.

Rank Athlete Nation Result
1
KEN
3:49.22
WL
2
KEN
3:50.00
SB
3
ETH
3:50.02
SB
4
KEN
3:50.24
PB
5
MAR
3:50.43
SB
6
KEN
3:50.68
PB
7
KEN
3:50.73
8
QAT
3:50.90
9
ETH
3:53.02
PB
10
AUS
3:53.62
11
KEN
3:53.90
12
NOR
3:57.35
PB
 
KEN
DNF
 
KEN
DNF

Intermediate times: 400m
Rotich, Andrew Kiptoo (KEN) 54.53
800m Rotich, Andrew Kiptoo (KEN) 1:51.61
1200m Kiprop, Asbel (KEN) 2:52.01

Men's 5000m: Gebremeskel Wins Ethiopian "Trials", Bekele Finishes 5th
Dejen Gebremeskel
the bronze medallist at last year's World Championships, blitzed the final lap in Olso in 54.36 to win the 5000m in his first outdoor race of the year and remind us all come London it may not just be a Mo Farah, Bernard Lagat affair.

Gebremesekel never got the recognition he was due in 2011 as he did not get to stand on the medal stand and receive his medal. He was upgraded to bronze after the award ceremony after Imane Merga was disqualified for shoving.

The race today was billed as a de facto Ethiopian Olympic Trials as it featured all the top Ethiopians. In addition to Gebremeskel and Merga it had one of the greatest distance runners ever Kenenisa Bekele, who is on the comeback trail, his younger brother Tariku Bekele, plus young Ethiopian star Yenew Alamirew, Mr Silver Sileshi Sihine, and Hagos Gebrhiwet, who won the Shanghai Diamond League 5000m.

This race featured atrocious pace making. The leader went out in 58.5 the first lap. The first kilometer was in 2:33, but the second kilometer slowed to 2:41. The next was a 2:35 but once the final pace maker dropped the pace slowed again.

This one came down to the final lap. There was a different face near the top when the bell rang. Kenenisa Bekele had put himself in contention. Bekele had been content to run in the back of the big pack which had fourteen guys in it even during the last mile. However, at the bell, Bekele had moved up on the outside to put himself to contend if he could mount a big last lap.

However, as has often happened this year, the top guys ran away from Bekele the first 200m of the bell lap.

Gebrhiwet and Gebremeskel were battling for the lead with Tariku Bekele in the mix. The final 100m it was a two man battle between Gebremeskel and Gebrhiwet. Gebremeskel just pulled this one out in 12:58.92 to Gebrhiwet's 12:58.99 thanks to a 54.36 last lap. (For reference Mo Farah won at Pre with a 56.14 last lap).

Imane Merga moved up for third and Kenenisa Bekele closed very well the last 200m to nearly catch his brother, but settled for a season's best in fifth in 13:00.54. Bekele was 1.62 seconds behind the winner so that would make his last lap 55.98 seconds. However, Bekele was not right on the lead at the bell, so he likely closed in 55.5 or faster. That means he ran faster than at Pre and closed faster here. A step in the right direction.

QT1: Great run by Gebremeskel in his first track race of the outdoor season. With this performance he can not be overlooked in London.

QT2: Gebrhiwet is a rising star. He won in Shanghai in his first international 5000m race ever and he almost won here. This run was more impressive as he closed in essentially the same time as in Shanghai but this race was much faster overall with erratic pacing (In Shanghai the last lap was 54.35 but the winning time was only 13:11.00). To top it off officially he is only 18.

Final Lap of Men's 5000m

QT3: If the Ethiopians don't put Kenenisa Bekele on the 5000m and 10,000m teams they are making a mistake but that would likely mean that  Imane Merga is left off totally. But Bekele is getting better. Case in point, in Doha just about a month ago (May 11th), he lost to Moses Kipsiro by 3.12 seconds. Today, he beat Kipsiro.

QT4: The rabbiting was so so bad. A sub 13:00 with such erratic pacing is not easy. To give you an idea as to how bad it was, here are some of the individual lap splits - 58 1st lap, 69 3rd lap (not a typo), 64 4th lap. 62 6th lap, 65 8th lap. 63 9th lap.

On the boards: Bekele ~13:00 with 55 last lap!

1
ETH
12:58.92
2
ETH
12:58.99
PB
3
ETH
12:59.77
4
ETH
13:00.41
5
ETH
13:00.54
SB
6
UGA
13:00.68
7
ETH
13:01.39
8
ETH
13:03.30
9
ETH
13:08.12
10
ETH
13:08.13
PB
11
KEN
13:08.35
12
ETH
13:09.32
13
KEN
13:09.58
14
GER
13:13.43
PB
15
ERI
13:17.25
16
NZL
13:26.43
17
QAT
13:31.63
18
RSA
13:32.21
19
NOR
13:39.81
 
KEN
DNF
 
KEN
DNF

Intermediate times:
1000m Rono, Vincent (KEN) 2:33.81
2000m Rono, Vincent (KEN) 5:16.55
3000m Ndiwa, Remmy Limo (KEN) 7:51.61
4000m Bett, Emmanuel Kipkemei (KEN) 10:32.47

Welsh National Record in 800m

We usually don't cover "B" races but Gareth Warburton ran a super impressive 1:44.98 pr and Welsh national record to crush the field. His previous best was 1:46.31.

On the boards: Who is 1'44.98 Gareth Warburton ???

1
GBR
1:44.98
PB
2
GBR
1:47.14
PB
3
SWE
1:47.31
PB
4
NOR
1:48.05
5
NOR
1:48.14
PB
6
FLO Stian
NOR
1:50.83
SB
7
INGEBRIGTSEN Filip
NOR
1:51.09
SB
8
MOZ
1:51.45
PB
9
NOR
1:51.64
10
OUSTAD Emil
NOR
1:52.17
 
NOR
DNF
 
FRØSKELAND Roald
NOR
DNS

Intermediate times:
400m Warburton, Gareth (GBR) 51.06
600m Warburton, Gareth (GBR)  1:18.36

Women's 100m Hurdles: Sally Pearson World Leader
The world beater Pearson in 2011 did not disappoint in her 2012 European debut as she set a World leader.

US Visitors Watch 100 Hurdles

Lolo Jones ran a season's best but the American cover girl may have a lot of trouble making the US team especially if Kristi Castlin is in the mix. Castlin ran a huge pb to get second. Prior to this year she hadn't run under 12.83.

Wind:+0.7
Rank Athlete Nation Result Reaction time
1
AUS
12.49
=WL,MR
0.161
2
USA
12.56
PB
0.168
3
GBR
12.70
0.161
4
CAN
12.74
0.151
5
USA
12.75
SB
0.155
6
USA
12.76
SB
0.139
7
SUI
13.15
0.157
 
GBR
DQ
R 162.7
 

Men's 400m Hurdles World Leader for Culson

Javier Culson followed up his win in Rome with a win here. It was the first sub 48 clocking of the year and gave Culson the top 3 times in the world this year. Can his medal count for the US in the Project 30 total since Puerto Rico is part of the US?

US Visitors Watch 400 Hurdles

Rank Athlete Nation Result Reaction time
1
PUR
47.92
WL
0.176
2
TRI
48.78
SB
0.184
3
USA
48.97
SB
0.147
4
GBR
48.98
0.150
5
RSA
49.16
0.144
6
GBR
49.70
0.195
7
GBR
50.46
0.169
8
GER
50.55
SB
0.186

Women's 400m: Montsho Clearly Best

Us visitors can watch here.

Rank Athlete Nation Result Reaction time
1
BOT
49.68
0.160
2
JAM
50.71
PB
0.202
3
USA
51.22
SB
0.180
4
RUS
51.51
0.159
5
JAM
51.56
0.217
6
SWE
51.99
0.189
7
FRA
52.47
0.276
8
GBR
52.79
0.175

Women's High Jump Chaunte Lowe Wins

Lowe got her second DL win over the year without having to go over 2.00 for the second time.

Rank Athlete Nation Result
  1.80
1.99
1.85
 
1.90
 
1.93
 
1.95
 
1.97
 
1
USA
1.97
 
o
xxx
o
 
o
 
o
 
xo
 
o
 
2
BEL
1.93
 
-
 
o
 
o
 
xo
 
-
 
xxx
 
3
KAZ
1.90
SB
 
o
 
o
 
o
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
4
ESP
1.90
 
o
 
xo
 
o
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
4
EST
1.90
=SB
 
o
 
xo
 
o
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
6
NOR
1.85
SB
 
o
 
o
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7
NOR
1.85
 
o
 
xo
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8
NOR
1.80
 
xo
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Men's Triple: Christian Taylor Upset

1
RUS
17.09
-0.6
 
x
(+1.9)
x
(-0.4)
17.09
(-0.6)
16.83
(-1.5)
16.90
(+1.0)
16.74
(+1.1)
2
USA
17.06
+1.2
 
16.95
(+1.7)
16.73
(+0.9)
16.96
(+1.8)
17.06
(+1.2)
16.70
(-1.1)
16.90
(-0.5)
3
UKR
17.03
+0.9
 
16.38
(+0.2)
16.62
(-0.4)
17.03
(+0.9)
x
(+0.9)
16.40
(-0.1)
16.30
(-1.5)
4
FRA
16.90
+1.6
 
x
(+2.1)
16.81
(-1.4)
16.90
(+1.6)
x
-
-
5
DEN
16.88
+2.2
*PB  
16.56
(+1.3)
16.88
(+2.2)
16.42
(+0.6)
x
(+0.8)
16.49
(+1.2)
x
(-0.5)
6
CUB
16.70
+0.8
 
14.94
(+0.7)
16.11
(+1.1)
x
(-0.3)
x
x
(-1.3)
16.70
(+0.8)
7
CUB
16.35
+0.8
 
15.77
(-0.4)
16.35
(+0.8)
15.75
(+1.5)
-
-
-
8
GBR
16.12
+1.7
 
15.66
(-0.4)
16.05
(-0.4)
16.12
(+1.7)
x
(+0.3)
x
(-1.1)
15.64
(+0.2)

Men's Shot: Olympic Champ Majewski Wins

Tomasz Majewski had the top 2 throws in the competition.

1
POL
21.36
 
   
20.59
x
20.96
21.16
21.36
20.96
2
CAN
20.82
 
   
20.75
20.82
20.80
20.58
20.42
x
3
GER
20.69
 
   
20.69
x
20.35
x
x
20.64
4
DEN
19.69
 
   
19.31
19.00
19.69
19.52
x
x
5
POR
19.56
 
   
18.86
18.82
x
19.56
19.24
x
6
ISL
18.66
 
   
18.27
18.66
x
18.05
17.96
x
7
SWE
18.61
 
   
x
x
18.14
17.89
18.04
18.61
8
NOR
16.47
 
   
16.42
x
16.47
16.32
x
15.93

Pole Vault: Renaud Lavillenie Wins

Lavillenie struggled at 5.72 but had a first attempt clearance at 5.82 to win.

Rank Athlete Nation Result
  5.22
5.92
5.42
 
5.52
 
5.62
 
5.72
 
5.82
 
1
FRA
5.82
 
-
xxx
-
 
xo
 
-
 
xxo
 
o
 
2
GER
5.62
 
-
 
-
 
-
 
o
 
-
 
xxx
 
3
POL
5.52
 
-
 
xxo
 
o
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
4
CUB
5.52
 
-
 
xxo
 
xo
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
5
SWE
5.42
 
-
 
o
 
-
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
6
GER
5.42
 
-
 
xo
 
-
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
7
FRA
5.42
 
-
 
xxo
 
-
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 
BRA
NM
 
-
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UKR
NM
 
-
 
-
 
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
POL
NM
 
-
 
xx-
 
x
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Women's Long Jump

Look at the Norwegian women in last who fouled 6 times.

1
RUS
6.96
+2.6
4
2
   
6.96
(+2.6)
6.53
(+3.5)
6.85
(+3.0)
6.40
(+0.1)
-
x
(-0.6)
2
RUS
6.89
+2.6
2
4
   
6.89
(+2.6)
-
6.76
(+0.5)
6.86
(+0.7)
6.84
(+0.7)
6.82
(+0.4)
3
USA
6.78
+0.8
6
1
img
 
6.60
(+0.9)
6.68
(+1.2)
6.48
(+0.1)
x
(+0.1)
6.73
(+1.0)
6.78
(+0.8)
4
GBR
6.60
-0.3
4
2
   
6.43
(+3.0)
6.49
(+1.6)
6.50
(+1.2)
6.51
(+1.3)
x
(-0.2)
6.60
(-0.3)
5
SRB
6.48
+2.0
SB
   
x
(+3.2)
6.48
(+2.0)
x
(+1.5)
x
(+0.7)
4.79
(-0.2)
x
(+1.1)
6
LAT
6.46
+2.7
   
6.41
(+1.5)
x
(+0.6)
6.46
(+2.7)
6.23
(+0.1)
6.32
(-0.2)
6.11
(-0.5)
7
RUS
6.07
+0.9
SB
   
4.73
(+1.0)
x
(+1.3)
x
(+1.4)
5.68
(-0.1)
5.59
(+0.7)
6.07
(+0.9)
 
NOR
NM
 
   
x
(+0.5)
x
(+2.1)
x
(+2.0)
x
(+0.3)
x
(+0.5)
x
(+0.6)

*Full Results

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