WTF; Almaz Ayana, Sifan Hissan, and YES Helen Obiri to try 2020 Olympic 5000m/10000m & possibly 2019 Worlds

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Almaz Ayahna, Genzebe Dibaba, Sifan Hissan, and Helen Obiri all will be competing in the 3000m at the Pre Classic on June 30. Don't think Almaz will automatically lose...in 2017 she broke Genzebe by injecting a final 2000m in sub 5:30 (sub 8:15 pace for 67% of the race). If she is fit she can win at a distance even as short as 3000m against the stacked field. if Almaz wins or close to winning at Pre then don't look for any of those women competing against Almaz to win both the 5000m/10000m double at 2019 Worlds.

Didnt ayana pretend to have surgery only some time ago?

This is her first race in almost a year since her injury and yes she did have surgery. She doesn't tow the line unless she is ready to compete for the win. Interesting to see how close to top form she will be on June 30 at Pre Classic. I bet she is ready for a sub 8:30 and hope she don't dnf as that is something she doesn't do but would speak volumes about her chance for 2019 Worlds.

Almaz Ayana will get a chance to add Caster Semenya name to legends she defeat when they compete at Pre Classic on June 30 against:

FIVE GLOBAL CHAMPIONS SET TO CLASH OVER 3000M IN STANFORD – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE

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The greatest field of women distance runners ever assembled on US soil will step to the starting line for the Prefontaine Classic 3000m when the IAAF Diamond League heads to Stanford on 30 June.

World 5000m and cross-country champion Hellen Obiri will be making her sixth appearance at the Prefontaine Classic. She set meeting records at 1500m in 2013 and 2014, then won the 5000m in 2016.

The Kenyan, who won the 5000m IAAF Diamond League title in 2018, is undefeated this year and won the 3000m at the opening leg of the IAAF Diamond League in Doha earlier this month in a world-leading 8:25.60.

Multiple world record-holder and five-time world indoor champion Genzebe Dibaba has won all three of her past Pre Classic appearances and her 14:19.76 victory in 2015 is the fastest 5000m ever run in the US.

Sifan Hassan won the 1500m Diamond League trophy in 2015 and followed it with world indoor gold over the same distance in 2016. The Dutch athlete is one of the most versatile runners in history, boasting an 800m PB of 1:56.81 and a half marathon PB of 1:05:15. She also holds the European 5000m record and the world 5km record.

Olympic 10,000m champion and world record-holder Almaz Ayana will be competing in the US for the first time. The Ethiopian won the 2015 world 5000m title, 2016 5000m Diamond Trophy and 2017 world 10,000m title, but missed all of last year with a knee injury.

Obiri, Dibaba, Ayana and Hassan are among the seven fastest women of all time at 5000m, but this will be the first time they have all raced one another at any distance.

The addition of world and Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya adds further interest. Although she has contested the distance in low-key domestic races in South Africa, this will be her first international 3000m race.

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey and Senbere Teferi, ranked eighth and ninth respectively on the world 5000m all-time list, are also in the field. Gidey is a two-time world U20 cross-country champion, while Teferi earned world silver medals at 5000m and cross country in 2015.

The field also includes two-time Ethiopian champion Fantu Worku, versatile Kenyan Caroline Chepkoech Kipkurui, world U20 cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet, 2017 world cross-country bronze medallist Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, double European indoor silver medallist Konstanze Klosterhalfen, 2016 European 5000m and 10,000m champion Yasmin Can, European 1500m bronze medallist Laura Weightman, six-time NCAA champion KARISSA SCHWEIZER and USA’s RACHEL SCHNEIDER.

VIPAM wrote:

Those are the three most consistent elute distance runners all trying for double Gold. Also 3 of my favorite distance runners making me root for only one of them to accomplish the double. If all three are fit and,healthy I dont see anyone beating Ayana in the 10000m or Obiri in the 5000m. WTF the women's distance events alrwady overshadowing the men's track dustance events.

Can anyone stop a fit Ayana in the 10000m?

Can anyone brwak away to avoid Obiri's lethal kick in the 5000m?

Looking further on what we are potentially seeing here is a revolution of how the female 10000m race will be run henceforth. Remember until Ayana it was almost without exception run conservatively. Ayana cannot race a sit and kick style due to her lack of tempo change ability. Obiri and Hassan represent real threats as they have established credentials across a wide stack of distances (especially Hassan) Both Hassan and Obiri have lethal kicks. But neither (as yet) has raced a track 10k. Warning signs for Ayana will be Obiri running a sub 30 road 10k in coming second last year and Hassan’s European record in the half marathon.

Let’s face it, since her Stella 2016 season Ayana has sustained two serious and long term injuries. Firstly a calf injury and subsequently a knee injury requiring surgery. How much has this surgery affected her? Has she been required to modify her biomechanics to offset the forces travelling through her lower limb area, has she lost the confidence the push the pace? - who knows.

I suggest she will carry on running the same way and as her husband mentioned to me last year, she will maintain running as “steely Almaz” concentrating on the high tempo endurance programmes during training which are her signature when it comes to racing.

In the 2017 world champs Almaz was running with pain for her previous injury, she still easily won the 10k but looked a poor version of herself in the 5k. Obiri won this race easily as she had specifically targeted the 5k only and focussed everything on winning this race and her first global gold medal. This race is interesting as it features Obiri at her best and Ayana at her worst.

I dont think Ayana will contest the 5k at the worlds or Olympics in deference to possible body frailty and injury. Also her second race of any championship suffers hugely so I believe she will drop it and simply burn over the 10k (she will need to given the increased threat from Obiri and Hassan)

I believe what we will see from her is a transition to the roads. Radcliffe’s marathon record beckons along with the half marathon. Ayana seems made for the longer distances with her Long striding form and ability to run fast whilst isolated from other runners. - It’s also my belief that the form of Hassan and Obiri is better suited to the shorter distances. Obiri especially seems to flail around when she runs - they seem to lack the efficiency of Ayana and this may tell over the longer race.

VIPAM wrote:

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

No ALL CAPS moron. It is not about time. Championship races are about place. The time does not matter except insofar as it determines places. You idiot.

too many u's where there should be i's and then you throw in an i where there should be an a.

Rio 10K was an absolute farce. The winner? Ayana. Is there an ignore button?

Alabama BS wrote:

Rio 10K was an absolute farce. The winner? Ayana. Is there an ignore button?

An absolute farce- why? Because they failed to lap slowly for the first 24 laps and only burn it up on the final lap?

Why can’t everyone get it through their skulls that the female 10k event had loads of untapped time to be removed from it.

Hell if women had been going for it in this event since it’s inception the record would be well under 29 minutes by now. It’s not really rocket science is it ? A more aggressive early approach leads to a reduced time for EVERYONE who followed the early pace. That “farce” is the reason Molly Huddle now has the US record.

Boring!

Where the sprints?