I think Letesenbet Gidey might be trying to break 14 this Saturday

Just to mention, looking at the World Athletics website, it seems that all the events for the Shanghai/Suzhou DL (also known as the Yangtze Delta Athletics Diamond Gala) will be held at Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre. Suzhou is about 80km West of central Shanghai. The weather there should be similar to Shanghai.

The DL website also states:
"Suzhou is the second of two Chinese meetings which kick off this year's Wanda Diamond League campaign ..."

Because of the reasons you state, the first that this isn't part of the DL meet and is being run right before, would indicate a WR attempt to me. Furthermore, again like you already said, no other real athletes close to her so I'm guessing it'll be heavily paced as well.

There's no other reason to do this other than WR attempt.

Nice spot.

Yeah, looks like a WR attempt. I don't think she's gonna get it though, unless she is in monster shape rn.

A good time to test her would be a week before the competition without her knowing in advance. Need to also scrap the notorious missed tests loophole to allow zero missed tests.

Sarah Billings, who broke 4mins for the 1500 last Sat in Xiamen, stated on her podcast that she will be a pacer for the 5000 in Suzhou.

I had wondered if there was going to be a second group going after the olympic standard, Megan Keith and some of the Australians, dont quite have the 14:52 yet.

More importantly, if she does break the 14 minute barrier, what will be the outcome of the resulting existential crisis for male Turkey Trot heroes and post-collegiate pro wannabes?

I tend to agree, but I think the field's PBs are a bit misleading. Cherotich/Nanyondo are the same agency, so it's possible they will be pacing. There are 14:3x runners in there, they just are roads-focused. Even if Gidey blows up a bit and runs sub-14:25 though, she would be safe. I suspect you are correct because otherwise skipping World XC/lucrative road races to run a one-off in China is pretty non-sensical.

Yeah, WR attempt, not sure she'll get it though. Seems rather Gidey is in need to have some good start results, to get going for the Olympics.

Gidey hasn’t been seen training in Addis at all this year. Prior to the civil war based in her home province of Tigray she based herself in Mekelle and trained there. But once hostilities started he. Over to Addis and bought an apartment there.
at the conclusion of the NY marathon last year she was involved buying and distributing bulk food for starving people in her home province. I was under the impression she had taken a complete break from running and that this meet in Shanghai was to be a sighter to see what she needs to do. But it does seem set up to be a record attempt which indicates perhaps she has been training away from the spotlight. I guess we will know one way or another this weekend.

I though Tsegay had peaked at 3:53 and wouldn't come close to 14:00 and was so wrong about both. To me, it seems like Gidey's 14:06 is at the pinnacle of her ability. I hope I'm wrong about that too. Would love to see something amazing

I agree with you she’s tried three times and her times are grouped around a three second peg. I doubt she can shave a further 6seconds from her best, - but then again who knows. I am friends with one of her male pacers and he’s told me she is an absolute Lioness in training.

regardless she is the one runner who you can watch and think you’ll never see anything so beautiful in motion again.

At the same time though, each of those runs have something about them that makes me think that they don't represent her full potential. Her 14:06 is from 3.5 years ago, and I think she's definitely fitter now than she was then. Also, she ran the last 2k by herself there. Her 14:07 I don't think she or Kipyegon had the record anywhere near their minds. It looked like they were racing and she probably could have run faster if she was focusing on the record. As for the 14:08, iirc the pacers dropped out relatively early and it was a windy day. Compare these runs to Tsegay, who had one of the top runners in the world racing her the entire way and was clearly gunning for the WR in near perfect conditions. I think Gidey absolutely has the potential to go sub14

Problem is that I don’t see anyone in this field who can take her past 3000m either (at the required pace that is) - I agree with you that she has the talent and inherent ability to go under 14 mins. The issue is that recently she has been dabbling too much with different distances and not allowing the full required training blocks for records to tumble. There are also issues with her training set up. She is essentially a lone wolf with a small team of pacers who come and go. The likes of Tsegay work within a huge team and she has real talent around her. This comes with huge advantages. Gidey is the ultimate loner both in her training and her persona.

I think it's pretty clearly a WR attempt and it is a signal that the race is on to be the first to break the 14 barrier.

If Gidey doesn't get it I would expect Tsegay to make an attempt very soon. We also know Chebet is fit from her World XC win. Kipyegon has not raced this year so she is a question mark.

I actually think Tsegay will be going after the 10000m record this year. She has nothing more to prove in the 5000m unless it’s broken this weekend of course! I also think Gidey would have a much easier time regaining her 10k WR should it fall to another. Her metronomic running style lends itself to the longer distances.

Since it’s not part of the official DL, will there still be 2 pacers thru 3k?

10k WR is by far the softest out of 1500, 5000, and 10k. Sifan said she had a lot left in the tank after she ran 29:06 and Gidey ran an extremely steep negative split in her 29:01 performance. Both could have done better. Chebet, Tsegay, Kipyegon, Gidey, and (maybe wishful thinking) Hassan could all significantly lower that mark so it makes it an obvious target.

I disagree that Tsegay has nothing left to prove in the 5k, though. She hasn't broken 14 and that seems like a major goal for the superstars of women's distance running. I'm sure she wants to be the first to do it. And I know we aren't talking about championship racing, but she's never beaten Kipyegon or an in shape Hassan at 5000, so I'm sure that's on her mind too.

Down votes? Ironically, ya'll must not really want clean sport.