The Diamond League goes to Africa - Offiical 2016 Rabat Discussion Thread

110 hurdles

Cuban turned Spaniard Orlando Ortega got the best start but 2013 world champ David Oliver moved up to challenge him as the race progressed and they were close to even over the final few hurdles. Oliver finally gained some separation over the last hurdle and beat out Ortega, 13.12 to 13.13. The time was an improvement on Oliver’s 13.16 sb from Doha two weeks ago and now ties him with Ortega at #3 in the world this year (Jamaica’s Omar McLeod remains the only man to have broken 13.00 in 2016).

Men's 800

France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, who was fifth at Worlds last year, earned his first career Diamond League victory, running patiently over the first 600 meters before exploding over the final 200 to win in 1:44.51. 2012 Olympic 1500 champ Taoufik Makhloufi was second in 1:44.91 while Nijel Amos had nothing over the final 100 and faded from second to sixth.

No one went with rabbit Edwin Meli in the early stages, and at 400 meters (51.17 for Meli), he had a gap of about eight meters on Moroccans Amine El Manaoui and Abdelatif Elguesse. Bosse sat waiting on the outside in the middle of the pack.

Amos made the first serious move of the race into the lead at 500 meters, but he couldn’t drop anyone; it was Bosse’s attack at 600 (1:17.19) that really strung out the field and he quickly gained a gap of a couple of meters over Amos and Makhloufi with 2015 Worlds bronze medallist Amel Tuka moving up into fourth place coming off the final turn. With 100 to go, Bosse began to power away and midway down the home stretch, it was obvious he was going to take the win. Makhloufi managed to close the gap slightly over the final 50 but was forced to settle for second; Amos had absolutely nothing over the final 100 and slipped from second to sixth in 1:47.34.

Quick Take #1: An impressive run from Bosse, who ran a tactically-smart race

Bosse defeated a solid field today (even though 2015 Worlds silver medallist was a pre-race scratch) and he did so convincingly. And though 1:44.51 isn’t a super fast time, the way Bosse (whose pb is 1:42.53 from two years ago) ran it suggests that he’s capable of a lot more right now. Rather than attack the race from the front, Bosse was willing to run a little extra distance early by staying on the outside of lane 1/inside of lane 2, positioning himself well to move when he felt the time was right. When he did strike, with 200 to go, it was decisive and he put away some very good runners early.

Quick Take #2: An absolute stinker from Nijel Amos in his outdoor 800 debut

Amos, with his awkward, arms-flailing running form, never looks comfortable, but his final 100 today was downright ugly. Second with 100 to go, Makhloufi put over two seconds on him in the home straight as Amos finished way back in sixth in 1:47.34. It was his slowest time ever in a Diamond League race and his slowest in a non-championship race since his season opener in 2014, when he ran 1:48.84 in South Africa (a race he won). It will take more than one bad race for us to count Amos out from defending his Olympic silver from four years ago, but he can’t afford many more efforts like this one.

Ivy leageu sprinter in the 200!! Bruno Hortelano Hoig - Cornell's finest - is racing.

rojo wrote:

Ivy leageu sprinter in the 200!! Bruno Hortelano Hoig - Cornell's finest - is racing.

Jesus. HE was amazing. I was fearful he was going to be a lane filler but he almost got 2nd and had the lead through about 150!! Way to go Bruno.

Diamond Race

Final, wind: +3.8

Pl. Athlete Nat. Birth Result

1. Alonso EDWARD PAN 89 20.07

2. Wilfried KOFFI CIV 87 20.35

3. Bruno HORTELANO-ROIG ESP 91 20.36

4. José Carlos HERRERA MEX 86 20.55

5. Abdullah Abkar MOHAMMED KSA 97 20.93

6. Aziz OUHADI MAR 84 20.96

7. Gavin SMELLIE CAN 86 20.97

8. Adrian GRIFFITH BAH 84 21.32

Here are some pics of Bruno:

2 men finish 1st & 2nd in the womens 800m...

Semenya...LOL...1:56 Mid and it looked EASYYYY.

The commentators are being very insensitive about Caster Semenya. That was downright cruel and painful to listen to.

Yikes. Semenya jogs a 1:56, Niyonsaba looked very fit as well.

Caster could go 1:53 right now if needed.

El Keniano wrote:

The commentators are being very insensitive about Caster Semenya. That was downright cruel and painful to listen to.

Hutchings was about as diplomatic as you can be. He even went out of his way to say that all the controversy is no fault of Semenya's, she's basically just showing up and running. As long as she is allowed to compete, don't blame her for doing so.

go semenya!

Remember when Merritt guest starred on the Simpsons?

http://tinyurl.com/hvngj5k

Ayana on 14:10 pace at 2k

The future!!!0

Ayana needs to close in sub-4:30 for final 1600 for the WR

Jonathan Gault wrote:

Ayana needs to close in sub-4:30 for final 1600 for the WR

She's 1201 mid with 800 to go!! BUt she was 941 with 4 laps to go. She can definitely do it in the future if they set it up. I mean this is in the middle of the day. It's a shame she's an adidas athlete or they'd do it at Pre.

1310 with a lap to go!!

I think that was the most impressive solo 5k I've seen in a long time.

El Keniano wrote:

The commentators are being very insensitive about Caster Semenya. That was downright cruel and painful to listen to.

And yet they don't expect anything about Niyonsaba?

I agree. I don't like the way they address it. Semenya has done nothing wrong. SHe shouldn't be treated like a villian.

Ayana comes up short of the WR again. Everything was perfect for her, she was at 12:00 with two laps to go. She doesn't have the speed to do it. She is one of the best pace runners ever, but she just doesn't have another gear.

Genzebe is the only one who can break that, but she would need to be paced by Ayana or her sister.

Just missed it because of the wind and the little help she got early on. Great running!! Best meet I have seen so far in 2016!! Good that they included Rabat to the diamond league.

Boost wrote:

Ayana comes up short of the WR again. Everything was perfect for her, she was at 12:00 with two laps to go. She doesn't have the speed to do it. She is one of the best pace runners ever, but she just doesn't have another gear.

Genzebe is the only one who can break that, but she would need to be paced by Ayana or her sister.

Yeah Genzebe, the same woman that got dusted by Ayana.

Look she's a great runner, but she's a MID DISTANCE RUNNER

She's great at 5k, but not a 5k runner.

Move back down genze, stop dreaming, you won't win the 5k and 10k.

Sorry for not posting more but I got caught up in a call regarding the Berian lawsuit. How funny is this. I was talking to an agent in our sport and they asked me what I was doing. I said' Watching the Rabat DL." Reply, "Oh that's going on right now?"

Men's 400. The world champ tied up big time.

Men's 400m - 22.05.2016

Final

Pl. Athlete Nat. Birth Result

1. LaShawn MERRITT USA 86 44.66

2. Kevin BORLÉE BEL 88 45.26

3. Isaac MAKWALA BOT 86 45.38

4. Christopher BROWN BAH 78 45.75

5. Nery BRENES CRC 85 45.78

6. Rabah YOUSIF GBR 86 45.90

7. Rusheen MCDONALD JAM 92 46.79

8. Jonathan BORLÉE BEL 88 46.81

Women's 800m - 22.05.2016

Final

Pl. Athlete Nat. Birth Result

1. Caster SEMENYA RSA 91 1:56.64

2. Francine NIYONSABA BDI 93 1:57.74

3. Renelle LAMOTE FRA 93 1:58.84

4. Eunice Jepkoech SUM KEN 88 1:59.32

5. Lynsey SHARP GBR 90 1:59.51

6. Habitam ALEMU ETH 97 1:59.70

7. Malika AKKAOUI MAR 87 2:01.11

8. Marina ARZAMASOVA BLR 87 2:01.49

9. Shelayna OSKAN-CLARKE GBR 90 2:01.65

10. Joanna JÓŹWIK POL 91 2:02.82

11. Sofia ENNAOUI POL 95 2:05.13

- Anastasiya TKACHUK UKR 93 DNF

- Siham HILALI MAR 86 DNF

Women's 5000

Women's 5000m - 22.05.2016

Final

Pl. Athlete Nat. Birth Result

1. Almaz AYANA ETH 91 14:16.31

2. Viola Jelagat KIBIWOT KEN 83 14:29.50

3. Senbere TEFERI ETH 95 14:35.09

4. Janet KISA KEN 92 14:38.70

5. Ababel YESHANEH ETH 91 14:41.58

6. Alemitu HAROYE ETH 95 14:43.58

7. Meraf BAHTA SWE 89 14:49.95

8. Sentayehu LEWETEGN ETH 96 15:06.49

9. Sviatlana KUDZELICH BLR 87 15:50.57

- Lydia WAFULA KEN 88 DNF

- Renata PLIÅš POL 85 DNF