2013 Lausanne Diamond League 1,500m: Abeba Aregawi Remains Dominant
by: LetsRun.com
July 4, 2013
Lausanne, Switzerland
Just as as she has been all year, Sweden’s Abeba Aregawi was utterly dominant in the women’s 1,500 today as she won the 2013 Athletissima Lausanne in the same fashion that she won in Birmingham on Sunday, by destroying everyone over the final 200 meters.
Aregawi put 1.62 seconds on the runner-up Sifan Hassan in the final 200 to finish off a final lap of 58-high / 59-flat (leader-to-leader it was 59.11 but she was in second at the bell). Hissan ran 4:03.73 for second.
American Shannon Rowbury grabbed top American honors in fifth in 4:06.81. At the bell, she was in fifth but was only the second American as 2011 World #1 Morgan Uceny was in fourth. Uceny struggled on the last lap and ended up last (tenth) in 4:09.42.
After the race, LRC spoke to Rowbury. Rowbury’s 4:06.81 was a season’s best, but the 2009 Worlds bronze medallist wanted more. “I was hoping for a lot better,” she said.
This camera angle is misleading. This one wasn’t close. Aregawi was dominant over the final 200.
Rowbury has a definite spot for the US in the 5,000m at Worlds. She was only fourth in the US in her primary event, the 1,500m, but there is a chance she runs the 1,500m at Worlds if Cory McGee does not hit the “B” qualifying standard. Most likely, Rowbury will run the 5,000m at Worlds, so she said she has been adding more endurance work to her training. She is upping the tempo runs and has decided to train at altitude in Europe in preparation for Worlds.
Up next for her is a 1,500m in Monaco on the 19th and then a 3,000m at the London Anniversary Games.
As for not making the team at 1,500m, she said, “I took a slower start to the season … I think the sharpness just took longer to come around. This was a year you had to be really sharp to make the team and I just fell short in the 1,500m.”
Uceny Struggles Again
Morgan Uceny was the World ranked #1 in the 1,500m in 2011 and fell at Worlds. She came back to win the US Trials last year, and then fell again at the Olympics with a lap to go. She has not been the same runner in 2013. She failed to make the US team at 1,500m and faded here over the final 200m to finish last in 4:09.42. She chose not to speak to the media after the race.
QT #1: Aregawi is dominant right now. Worlds can’t come soon enough for her.
QT #2: This US was the dominant country at 1,500m from 2009 until this year. This year has been a major disappointment. The US’s hopes now rest on a high schooler, Mary Cain, and a former US star, Treniere Clement, who most of us thought was going to be out of the sport this year. Fates can change quickly in track and field.
| RANK | ATHLETE | NATION | RESULT | DIAMOND POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
SWE
|
4:02.11
|
20
|
||
|
2
|
ETH
|
4:03.73
|
PB
|
2
|
|
|
3
|
MAR
|
4:04.58
|
1
|
||
|
4
|
MAR
|
4:05.93
|
|||
|
5
|
USA
|
4:06.81
|
SB
|
||
|
6
|
USA
|
4:07.46
|
|||
|
7
|
CAN
|
4:08.18
|
|||
|
8
|
USA
|
4:09.13
|
PB
|
||
|
9
|
ALB
|
4:09.31
|
|||
|
10
|
USA
|
4:09.42
|
|||
|
UGA
|
DNF
|
||||
|
MAR
|
DNF
|
||||
|
KEN
|
DNF
|
||||
|
ETH
|
DNS
|
||||
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