Sifan Hassan and Abebe Aregawi Win Heats, Set Up Clash For Women’s 1500 Final

By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2014 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

ZÜRICH (12-Aug) — Europe’s top two middle distance runners this season, Sweden’s Abeba Aregawi and the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan, easily won their individual heats in the first round of the women’s 1500m.  Aregawi beat back a nominal challenge from Serbia’s Amela Terzic, to win the first heat in a pedestrian 4:11.64 to Terzic’s 4:11.75.

“The race was nice, I hope to win the final and I don’t mind about the time,” Aregawi told European Athletics interviewers. “It will be a good battle with Hassan.”

Article continues below player.

Hassan won the second heat comfortably in 4:09.55, helped along by the decent pace set by Poland’s Renata Plis, who finished second (4:10.33).  Like Aregawi, Hassan formerly competed for Ethiopia.

“It’s very nice,” Hassan told Race Results Weekly in English while a Dutch federation official sought to hurry her through the mixed zone.  “I feel confident going into the final.”

Also advancing (with medal hopes) were Norway’s Ingvill Måkestad Bovim, Britain’s Hannah England and Laura Weightman, and Russia’s Svetlana Karamasheva.  Måkestad Bovim, who is making a comeback from both maternity leave and an injury, looked strong in the final sprint to take fourth in the first heat.

“It felt like I was running a 3-K in the beginning,” Måkestad Bovim said of the slow early pace.  “But I was strong in the finish.”

Not advancing was Britain’s Laura Muir.  The runner-up at the British Championships this year, who later ran a sizzling 4:00.07 in Paris, got her feet tangled with the Netherlands’ Maureen Koster at the bell, nearly falling.  She finished sixth in the first heat in 4:14.69.

“I’m disappointed, especially because I’m ranked #3,” the soft-spoken Muir told reporters.  She continued: “I almost fell a couple of times as I was trying to get past people.”

Results

1500 m
Heats 12 August
Heat 1
1 Abeba Aregawi SWE 5 Jul 90 4:11.64 Q
2 Amela Terzić SRB 2 Jan 93 4:11.75 Q
3 Svetlana Karamasheva RUS 24 May 88 4:12.94 Q
4 Ingvill Måkestad Bovim NOR 7 Aug 81 4:13.02 Q
5 Anna Mishchenko UKR 25 Aug 83 4:14.24
6 Laura Muir GBR 9 May 93 4:14.69
7 Maureen Koster NED 3 Jul 92 4:15.11
8 Sonja Roman SLO 11 Mar 79 4:16.38
9 Esma Aydemir TUR 1 Jan 92 4:16.90 SB
10 Margherita Magnani ITA 26 Feb 87 4:17.19
11 Agata Strausa LAT 2 Dec 89 4:17.61
12 Isabel Macías ESP 11 Aug 84 4:17.76
Heat 2
1 Sifan Hassan NED 1 Jan 93 4:09.55 Q
2 Renata Pliś POL 5 Feb 85 4:10.33 Q
3 Federica Del Buono ITA 12 Dec 94 4:10.47 Q
4 Laura Weightman GBR 1 Jul 91 4:10.55 Q
5 Hannah England GBR 6 Mar 87 4:10.73 q
6 Diana Sujew GER 2 Nov 90 4:11.27 q
7 Anna Shchagina RUS 7 Dec 91 4:11.27 q
8 Nataliya Pryshchepa UKR 11 Sep 94 4:11.42 q
9 Luiza Gega ALB 5 Nov 88 4:12.25
10 Lucia Klocová SVK 20 Nov 83 4:14.77
11 Diana Mezuliáníková CZE 10 Apr 92 4:15.40
12 Gamze Bulut TUR 3 Aug 92 4:18.28
13 Liina Tšernov EST 28 Dec 87 4:25.18

#  #  #  #  #

The first distance medals of these championships will be handed out tonight when the women’s 10,000m is contested.  Medal favorites include Portugal’s Ana Dulce Félix (the defending champion) and Sara Moreira, France’s Sophie Duarte and Clémence Calvin (the 2014 European Cup Champion), Britain’s Jo Pavey (the Commonwealth Games 5000m bronze medalist at 40 years-old), Germany’s Sabrina Mockenhaupt, and Ireland’s Fionnuala Britton.  Two-time TCS New York City Marathon champion, Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, has the fastest personal best in the field, 30:38.78, set in 2006.

Want More? Join The Supporters Club Today
Support independent journalism and get:
  • Exclusive Access to VIP Supporters Club Content
  • Bonus Podcasts Every Friday
  • Free LetsRun.com Shirt (Annual Subscribers)
  • Exclusive Discounts
  • Enhanced Message Boards