Almaz Ayana just misses world 5000m record in Rome

Diamond League

Almaz Ayana clocked the second fastest 5000m time in history as she solo-ran to 14:12.59 in the Rome Diamond League on Thursday.

The Ethiopian world champion just missed the world record of 14:11.15 set by Tirunesh Dibaba in 2008 as she finished more than 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Mercy Cherono of Kenya.

Paced to quicker than target pace through the early stages, she went through 3km on her own in 8:30.43, but in the fourth kilometre she slowed slightly off the incredible tempo as she split to 11:23.57.

Her late-race charge proved not enough, but it is surely only a matter before the mark goes. The time followed her 14:16.31 from the last Diamond League in Rabat and moved her one above Meseret Defar (14:12.88) on the world all-time list.

Olympic and world champion Greg Rutherford continued his top-class and consistent form as he comfortably won the long jump with 8.31m. World No.1 Marquise Goodwin was second with 8.19m, but could not match the second-round effort of the Brit, whose had already registered legal jumps of 8.26m, 8.30m, 8.24m and 8.20m this year.

Caster Semenya equalled her own fastest time in the world this year as she easily won the 800m in 1:56.64. The South African has been a class apart this year, returning to the form that took her to the world title in 2009. She proved it again as she made her only challenger in the last 100m, Francine Niyonsaba, look pedestrian, stretching away to win by more than two seconds from the Burundian (1:58.20).

In third, Britain’s Lynsey Sharp ran her fifth quickest ever time of 1:59.03 to improve on her season’s best. In the B race, Shelayna Oskan-Clarke was sixth with 2:02.15 behind Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa.

The meeting finished on a high with yet another world lead, in this instance by Conseslus Kipruto in the steeplechase. Achieving his third …

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