The top-ranked Jr 3000m runner in the world is Ethiopia's Senbere Tefari. She has gone 8:41. However, Ethiopia has chosen to enter her in the 1500m instead of the 3000m. This is a real head-scratcher as the next fastest woman on the 3000m list is back at 8:53. Ethiopia's two official 3000m entrants are both over 9:00. On the other hand, they have two entrants in the 1500m (excluding Tefari) that have run 3:59.53 and 4:02.83. Efraimson is the next fastest with her 4:07.05.
I sincerely believe that the Tefari has decided to duck Cain. It looks as though she will bump the 4:02.83 girl out of a spot and accept losing to her sub-4 teammate in the 1500m. Naturally, she would prefer to be beat by her teammate than Cain. While her 8:41 PR looks very nice in comparison to Cain's 8:55 converted time, it really does appear as though she is scared. Cain has showed that she has racing chops and that she can fly on the last lap. Tefari likely does not believe that she can run away from her and is afraid of being out-kicked. Thoughts?