2013 IAAF Shanghai Diamond League Recap: Asbel Kiprop Pulls Off A Houdini Act, New Stars in the Men’s Steeple and Women’s 5,000?
by LetsRun.com
May 18, 2013
The second stop of the 2013 IAAF Diamond League track and field circuit took place Saturday night in Shanghai (Saturday morning in the US) under wet conditions.
Mid-d and distance wise there was some great action as Asbel Kiprop pulled off an mind-boggling/thrilling victory in the men’s 1,500, a new phenom emerged in the men’s steeple, and perhaps as well in the women’s 5000. Plus Francine Niyonsaba dominated the women’s 800.
The biggest news from the meet was Kirani James opening with a 44.02 win.
We recap the mid-d and distance action for you below in great detail before quickly taking a look at the other events. We’ve embedded in all Universal Sports race videos if they exist.
Men’s 1,500: Asbel Kiprop Pulls A Houdini Act and Esacapes With An Absolutely Thrilling Victory
“Are you kidding us?”
That’s what we thought to ourrselves after the finish of this thriller.
In the end, the Asbel Kiprop show continued as he picked up his second 1,500 victory over the world’s best in the span of eight days but boy did he make it interesting. On a wet evening in Shanghai, Kiprop took his customary spot up front near the two rabbits at the start, but 500 meters in, he let the rabbits go and allowed himself to be swallowed up by the pack.
Kiprop almost appeared to be bagging it as at the bell he was way back in 9th place. Even with 300m to go, he was still in 9th. And then wait, coming off the final turn, Kiprop reappears in the picture in sixth to contend.
What’s this?
Yes, you got it, he spotted the field 1.5+ seconds seconds at bell – hell 1.5 seconds at 300 – and still got the job done as he just barely had enough time to catch Ethiopia’s Mekonnen Gebremedhin at the line as Kiprop won in 3:32.39 to Gebremedhin’s 3:32.43.
Truly ridiculous. Look how far back Kiprop was at 300m:
Leader to leader, the last lap was run in 55.41 but Kiprop was in about 53.3.
2008 Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis was right behind Kiprop with 100 meters remaining in seventh and poised for a good finish as he’s known for having a good close and he seemed to be moving up. But when Willis moved outside to try to bring it home, he went down in a fall. Perhaps he clipped the runner in front of him? It’s hard to say for sure but Willis ended up 10th in 3:40.72. However, considering sixth place ended up running 3:33.85, it’s safe to say Willis was on his way to a 3:33 finish.
The sixth place finisher was non other than 2011 world championship silver medalist Silas Kiplagat. Kiplagat, who was only 10th in Doha last week, had talked a lot of trash coming into Shanghai about the great shape he was in, but he certainly didn’t show it in Shanghai and he had no excuses like last week when he nearly fell at the bell.
Asbel Kiprop finds enough to win in Shanghai
Quick Take (QT) #1: When he’s on,there is no one on the planet who can beat Asbel Kiprop except maybe for Algeria’s Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi (and we’ve never really seen the two of them battle each other when they both were on) or perhaps a totally in-form Silas Kiplagat (not the case right now). That being said, Kiprop certainly can beat himself and thus the 1,500 is going to be a must-watch race all year long.
QT #2: Watching the race replay, we had Kiprop in the following places with the following splits at various places in the race (for places, we took out the rabbit).
300: 41.7 (1st)
400: 56.5 (1st)
700: 1:40.5 (4th)
800: 1:55.0 (4th)
1100 : 2:39.0 (9th)
1200 2:53.0 (9th)
1500: 3:32.39 (1st)
QT #3: After the race, Nick Willis emailed his post-race reaction to Athletics New Zealand. On the positive side, stuff.co.nz says he wrote,”Ran the best first 1000m of my Diamond League career.”
But he was clearly upset with finish: “Very disappointing to come all the way to China and not have my performance reflect my fitness. Regardless, I ran a poor tactical race from 1000-1200m, and that cost me a chance at the win. Even if I hadn’t tripped, third was the best I could have finished. Good prep for my upcoming races in the US.”
QT# 4: If you didn’t watch this race, the results don’t show it justice – so please do yourself a favor and after looking at the results below, watch the full race replay which is embedded below the results.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Result | Diamond Points | Diamond Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
KEN
|
3:32.39
|
4
|
1
|
 |
||
|
2
|
ETH
|
3:32.43
|
SB
|
2
|
2
|
||
|
3
|
KEN
|
3:32.96
|
1
|
3
|
|||
|
4
|
MAR
|
3:33.29
|
SB
|
||||
|
5
|
KEN
|
3:33.67
|
|||||
|
6
|
KEN
|
3:33.85
|
SB
|
||||
|
7
|
KEN
|
3:35.29
|
SB
|
||||
|
8 |
ETH
|
3:35.47
|
|||||
|
9
|
KEN
|
3:37.64
|
|||||
|
10
|
KEN
|
3:38.28
|
|||||
|
11
|
CZE
|
3:38.71
|
|||||
|
12
|
MAR
|
3:38.76
|
|||||
|
13
|
NZL
|
3:40.72
|
|||||
|
14
|
CHN
|
3:41.19
|
PB
|
||||
|
15
|
NZL
|
3:42.08
|
|||||
|
16
|
CHN
|
3:46.56
|
SB
|
||||
|
KEN
|
DNF
|
||||||
|
KEN
|
DNF
|
||||||
Nick Willis goes down in Shanghai
Intermediate times:
1200m Iguider, Abdelaati (MAR) 2:51.32
Men’s Steeple: 18-Year old Phenom Conseslus Kipruto Impresses
The future in the men’s steeplechase has arrived and it has a name – Conseslus Kipruto.
Heading into the men’s steeplechase which featured the fastest man in the world from 2012 in Paul Kipsiele Koech (who just missed the World Record last year), as well as the 2008 Olympic champ Brimin Kipruto (who almost certainly would have medalled in London had he not fallen in last year’s Olympic final), as well 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Abel Mutai, we urged you not to over look 18-year old Conseslus Kipruto.
We wrote the following of Kipruto (the 2011 World Youth and 2012 World Junior steeple champ who ran 8:03.49 last year at age 17 and was 5th at world juniors this year in XC):
He might represent the future of the event.
As said above, it looks like the future is now here.
Kipruto ripped a 59 last lap (leader to leader it was 59.83 but Kipruto wasn’t in the lead at the bell) to get the win in a new personal best and new world leading time of 8:01.16, which also was a new Shanghai meet record. Kipsiele Koech, who is known for producing fast early season times in May, ended up second in 8:02.63 as 21-year old Hilary Yego, the 2009 World Youth champ, ended up third in a new pb of 8:03.57 (previous pr of 8:07.71).
The top three were right together at the bell. Heading into the last water jump, Kipruto and Koech were next to each other but coming off the water jump Kipruto pulled away convincingly. Kipruto stuttered coming into the final barrier on the homestretch but it didn’t matter as he was flying on the last lap. The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Abel Mutai was the best of the rest at 8:08.83.
Quick Take #1: Kipruto appears to be something special. The world junior record of 7:58.66 from 2001 by Stephen Cherono appears to be within reach. Cherono is of course the world record holder at 7:53.63.
QT #2: Don’t let the 8:14 time by 2008 Olympic champ Brimin Kipruto make you write him off. He’s very good at getting his peak right. Last year in May on the DL circuit, he only ran 8:26 in Doha.
QT #3: This was a high quality affair. Prior to tonight, Kenya’s Jairus Birech was the world leader at 8:15.26. Tonight he ran a new seasonal best of nearly 5-seconds (8:10.27) and was only sixth.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Result | Diamond Points | Diamond Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
KEN
|
8:01.16
|
WL,MR
|
4
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
KEN
|
8:02.63
|
2
|
2
|
|||
|
3
|
KEN
|
8:03.57
|
PB
|
1
|
3
|
||
|
4
|
KEN
|
8:08.83
|
SB
|
||||
|
5
|
KEN
|
8:09.50
|
PB
|
||||
|
6
|
KEN
|
8:10.27
|
SB
|
||||
|
7
|
KEN
|
8:14.97
|
|||||
|
8
|
KEN
|
8:20.69
|
|||||
|
9
|
KEN
|
8:29.29
|
|||||
|
10
|
UGA
|
8:30.42
|
|||||
|
11
|
CAN
|
8:31.35
|
SB
|
||||
|
UGA
|
DNF
|
||||||
|
CAN
|
DNF
|
||||||
|
KEN
|
DNF
|
||||||
|
MAR
|
DNF
|
||||||
|
CHN
|
DNS
|
||||||
Intermediate times:
1000m :Lagat, Haron (KEN) 2:38.37
2000m: Koech, Paul Kipsiele (KEN) 5:24.03
Women’s 800: Francine Niysonaba Dominates Final 200 of Uneven Race
With 2008 Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo a no-show, the women’s 800 was won as expected by the woman who was the revelation of the 2012 season, Burundi’s Francine Niysonaba. Niyonsaba burst onto the scene out of nowhere least year as a 19-year old novice who had no idea of the proper way to run an 800, often making multiple moves, and before the year was over she was an Olympic 800 finalist with a 1:56.59 pb.
Francine Niyonsaba priot to 2013 Shanghai
Tonight, on the first lap, Niyonsaba showed she’s still not a veteran as she ran a crazy second turn. Heading into the second turn, it looked as if Niyonsaba was going to settle into last place, then she changed her mind and quickly accelerated and blew by everyone in the field except for the race leader and the rabbit (whom no one followed). Niyonsaba then stayed up front and controlled the race nicely in the unevenly paced raced before destroying everyone in the final 100.
Niyonsaba’s split at 400 was right near 60 (probably just under) and her 600 split was 1:31.21, but she was able to pick it up over the last 200 and finished in 2:00.33 – a new world leader (Brenda Martinez‘s 1:59 from the Re:Run meet has not been accepted as the track didn’t have a curb on it). Very few people are able to accelerate over the final 200 in a 2:00 race and that was confirmed by the fact that second was nearly a full second back. 2007 world champ Janeth Jepkosgei won a three way battle for runner-up honors in 2:01.28.
QT #1: Niyonsaba is a talent and will be hard to beat this year. That being said, she needs to learn how to race.
QT #2: The announcers of the IAAF international feed (not sure who they were, if you know, please email us) said 2008 Olympic champ Pamela Jelimo, who finally had a good year last year after two horrible years, was unable to get a visa to China. However, that may just been an excuse for not showing up as they’ve heard she’s not in good shape once again.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Result | Diamond Points | Diamond Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
BDI
|
2:00.33
|
WL
|
4
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
KEN
|
2:01.28
|
2
|
2
|
|||
|
3
|
MAR
|
2:01.49
|
SB
|
1
|
3
|
||
|
4
|
KEN
|
2:01.54
|
SB
|
||||
|
5
|
BLR
|
2:02.44
|
|||||
|
6
|
CHN
|
2:02.81
|
|||||
|
7
|
RUS
|
2:02.92
|
|||||
|
8
|
CHN
|
2:02.94
|
SB
|
||||
|
9
|
IND
|
2:03.61
|
|||||
|
10
|
KEN
|
2:04.31
|
|||||
|
POL
|
DNF
|
||||||
Women’s 5000: Dibaba Over Defar But In A New Way
Last year at the Olympics, Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar stunned seven time Olympic/World track champion Tirunesh Dibaba in the women’s 5000 to become a two-time Olympic 5000 champ (she also won the 5000 in 2004). Well tonight in Shanghai, Dibaba’s little sister, Genzebe Dibaba, got revenge for her big sis as Genzebe used her 3:57.54 1500 speed to crush Defar and everyone else in the field over the final 400 thanks to a sub-59 second last lap (leader to leader it was 59.00).
Genzebe Dibaba won in a new world leading time of 14:45.92 to Defar’s 14:47.76. Kenya’s Viola Kibiwot, herself a 3:59 1,500 runner who was 6th in the 5000 at the 2012 Olympics, was third in 14:48.29 after doing most of leading after the second rabbit departed at 2k.
QT #1: We don’t understand why races need rabbits at all if they are going to last only 2k – which isn’t really a big help. Once they dropped, the pace slowed dramatically which played into the 1,500 runner Dibaba’s hands.
QT #2: We described Dibaba as a “1,500 runner” above but it will be interesting to see where she ends up. When the 22-year old Dibaba first came onto the circuit, she tried to make it as a 5000 runner but had much less success than she had last year in the 1,500. She was just 8th in the 2009 and 2011 world champs at 5000. Of course, she was very young then. Now that she’s a bit older, the 5000 might be perfect for her. Particularly championship 5000 races which often are tactical as she’s got great wheels.
The 5000 might also be more appealing as somehow her 3:57.54 last week only got her third in Doha.
QT #3: A disappointing night for 2009 and 2011 world championshp silver medalist 2011 Sylvia Kibet who was just 9th.
QT #4: Below the results, we’ve embedded 3:49 of race highlihts.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Result | Diamond Points | Diamond Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
ETH
|
14:45.92
|
WL
|
4
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
ETH
|
14:47.76
|
2
|
2
|
|||
|
3
|
KEN
|
14:48.29
|
1
|
3
|
|||
|
4
|
KEN
|
14:49.84
|
|||||
|
5
|
KEN
|
14:49.92
|
PB
|
||||
|
6
|
ETH
|
14:50.24
|
PB
|
||||
|
7
|
KEN
|
14:50.99
|
|||||
|
8
|
ETH
|
14:59.05
|
|||||
|
9
|
KEN
|
15:02.90
|
|||||
|
10
|
ETH
|
15:02.90
|
|||||
|
11
|
KEN
|
15:05.89
|
|||||
|
12
|
ETH
|
15:07.96
|
SB
|
||||
|
13
|
ETH
|
15:11.12
|
PB
|
||||
|
14
|
ETH
|
15:13.48
|
PB
|
||||
|
15
|
KEN
|
15:17.51
|
PB
|
||||
|
16
|
ETH
|
15:19.14
|
PB
|
||||
|
17
|
CHN
|
16:16.33
|
SB
|
||||
|
UGA
|
DNF
|
||||||
|
GBR
|
DNF
|
||||||
Intermediate times:
1000m: Achola, Janet (UGA) 2:55.92
2000m:Clitheroe, Helen (GBR) 5:52.83
3000m: Kibiwot, Viola Jelagat (KEN) 8:56.90
4000m: Kibiwot, Viola Jelagat (KEN) 12:00.76
Non-Distance Action
Men’s 400: King James Reigns Supreme
In the battle between the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champs as well as the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, this one firmly belonged to the 2012 Olympic champ Kirani James who really pulled away from LaShawn Merritt over the final 100 to win in a really quick 44.02 to Merritt’s 44.60. London silver medalist Luguelin Santos as third in 45.11.
QT #1: 44.02 is very good. James has only run faster once in his life – the 43.94 he ran to win Olmpic gold.
QT #2: 44.60 – the time Merritt ran today for 2nd – won James gold at the 2011 world champs.
The 400 looked close at 300 but not the finish
400 Metres - Men
Pts
1 James , Kirani GRN 44.02 4
2 Merritt , LaShawn USA 44.60 2
3 Santos , Luguelín DOM 45.11 1
4 Borlée , Jonathan BEL 45.57
5 Gordon , Lalonde TRI 46.39
6 Zhang , Huadong CHN 47.77
Williams , Conrad GBR DQ
Maslák , Pavel CZE DQ
Guo , Jian CHN DNF
Men’s 110 Hurdles
World record holder and Olympic champ Aries Merritt didn’t even make it over the first hurdle and he didn’t even try to jump it. Television commentator Tim Hutchings was stunned by Merritt’s lack of effort. Perhaps he felt something in his hammy – no need to risk it – this early. In his absence, the win went to the London silver medallist Jason Richardson in a modest 13.23. Race replay below results.
110 Metres Hurdles - Men Wind: -0.5 m/s
Pts
1 Richardson , Jason USA 13.23 4
2 Wilson , Ryan USA 13.25 2
3 Xie , Wenjun CHN 13.28 1
4 Oliver , David USA 13.35
5 Porter , Jeff USA 13.45
6 Shubenkov , Sergey RUS 13.52
7 Shi , Dongpeng CHN 13.64
8 Fourie , Lehann RSA 13.82
Merritt , Aries USA DNF
Women’s 100
In a rematch of the Olympic gold and silver merdallists from London, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce got the win over Carmelita Jeter as Jeter pulled up hurt at the end of the race.
Carmelita Jeter injured in Doha
100 Metres - Women Wind: +0.1 m/s
Pts
1 Fraser-Pryce , Shelly-Ann JAM 10.93 4
2 Okagbare , Blessing NGR 11.00 2
3 Jeter , Carmelita USA 11.08 1
4 Henry-Robinson , Samantha JAM 11.23
5 Brooks , Sheri-Ann JAM 11.27
6 Bailey , Aleen JAM 11.30
7 Zang Milama , Ruddy GAB 11.36
8 Tarmoh , Jeneba USA 11.42
9 Wei , Yongli CHN 11.50
Men’s Long Jump
The battle between the last three Olympic long jump champs was won by China’s Jinzhe Li? Yep, that’s right. He improved his pb from 8.25 to 8.34 in the process.
Long Jump - Men
Pts Wind
1 Li , Jinzhe CHN 8.34 4 +1.1
2 Menkov , Aleksandr RUS 8.31 2 -0.2
3 Rutherford , Greg GBR 8.08 1 -1.0
4 Su , Xiongfeng CHN 8.00 +0.2
5 Makusha , Ngonidzashe ZIM 7.96 -1.7
6 Gaisah , Ignisious GHA 7.95 -0.1
7 Mokoena , Godfrey Khotso RSA 7.74 +0.7
8 Saladino , Irving PAN 7.72 +0.7
9 Tomlinson , Christopher GBR 7.66 +0.9
10 Phillips , Dwight USA 7.62 +0.7
11 Jegede , J.J. GBR 7.58 +0.9
12 Watt , Mitchell AUS 7.58 -0.8
13 Claye , Will USA 7.56 -1.0
Women’s Pole Vault
Double Olympic champ Elena Isinbaeva got the win over American Mary Saxer. Detailed results with misses here.
Pole Vault - Women
Pts
1 Isinbaeva , Elena RUS 4.70 4
2 Saxer , Mary USA 4.60 2
3 Spiegelburg , Silke GER 4.55 1
4 Li , Ling CHN 4.50
5 Janson , Lacy USA 4.40
6 Savchenko , Anastasia RUS 4.40
7 Bengtsson , Angelica SWE 4.40
8 Holliday , Becky USA 4.15
8 Kushch-Mazuryk , Natalya UKR 4.15
8 Viuf , Katy USA 4.15
Kiryashova , Aleksandra RUS NM
Men’s 200
A tight 3-way finish
2012 Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir started to lose it completely at the end of his 200 as American Justin Gatlin moved up late but Weird hung on for a narrow victory.
Let’s hope Wallace Spearmon, who had run a 9.92 windy 100 at the Texas Relays, isn’t injured.
Men' results
200 Metres - Men Wind: 0.0 m/s
Pts
1 Weir , Warren JAM 20.18 4
2 Gatlin , Justin USA 20.21 2
3 Young , Jason JAM 20.22 1
4 Zhang , Peimeng CHN 20.47
5 Martina , Churandy NED 20.59
6 Patton , Darvis USA 20.61
7 Xie , Zhenye CHN 20.63
8 Spearmon , Wallace USA 1:20.88
Women’s 400h
2012 bronze medallist Zuzana Hejnova got the win as America’s London silver medalist Lashinda Demus really struggled over the final 200.
400 Metres Hurdles - Women
Pts
1 Hejnová , Zuzana CZE 53.79 4
2 Morosanu , Angela ROU 53.85 2
3 Pedroso , Yadisleidis CUB 54.54 1
4 Muhammad , Dalilah USA 54.74
5 Spencer , Kaliese JAM 54.91
6 Demus , Lashinda USA 55.12
7 Odumosu , Muizat Ajoke NGR 55.94
8 Williams , Tiffany USA 56.05
9 Kubokura , Satomi JPN 56.42
Trple Jump Women
Triple Jump - Women
Pts Wind
1 Ibargüen , Caterine COL 14.69 4 -1.1
2 Saladuha , Olha UKR 14.43 2 -1.4
3 Gumenyuk , Irina RUS 14.02 1 -0.3
4 Xie , Limei CHN 13.99 -1.2
5 Williams , Kimberly JAM 13.99 -0.7
6 Panétta , Níki GRE 13.81 -0.1
7 Veldáková , Dana SVK 13.76 -0.8
8 Costa , Keila BRA 13.63 -0.5
9 Li , Yanmei CHN 13.55 -1.3
Knyazyeva , Hanna UKR NM
Throws
Discus Throw - Men
Pts
1 Malachowski , Piotr POL 67.34 4
2 Kanter , Gerd EST 63.14 2
3 Urbanek , Robert POL 62.85 1
4 Cadee , Erik NED 62.40
5 Casañas , Yennifer Frank ESP 62.39
6 Gowda , Vikas IND 61.97
7 Maric , Martin CRO 60.73
8 Smith , Rutger NED 60.12
9 Pestano , Mario ESP 57.14
10 Xin , Jia CHN 53.83
Javelin Throw - Men
Pts
1 Pitkämäki , Tero FIN 87.60 4
2 Veselý , Vítezslav CZE 86.67 2
3 Tarabin , Dmitri RUS 85.36 1
4 Mannio , Ari FIN 83.43
5 Zhao , Qinggang CHN 81.18
6 Walcott , Keshorn TRI 79.02
7 Yego , Julius KEN 78.23
8 Farquhar , Stuart NZL 76.36
9 Chen , Qi CHN 75.46
10 Oosthuizen , John Robert RSA 74.62
Thorkildsen , Andreas NOR NM
Shot Put - Women
Pts
1 Schwanitz , Christina GER 20.20 4
2 Gong , Lijiao CHN 19.73 2
3 Carter , Michelle USA 18.83 1
4 Liu , Xiangrong CHN 18.11
5 Heltne , Anca ROU 18.02
6 Terlecki , Josephine GER 17.97
7 McCall , Jeneva USA 17.83
8 Márton , Anita HUN 17.23
9 Hryshko Dubitskaya , Aliona BLR 17.06
10 Sviridova , Olesya RUS 15.91
Borel , Cleopatra TRI NM