LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, June 30 — A scintillating 5000 thrilled fans on a cool evening in the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise as Berihu Aregawi took control of the race after the rabbit punched out and left World Record holder Joshua Cheptegei and company gasping in the wake of a world-leading performance.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian, already the world 10K leader, followed the rabbits through the first 2 kilos in 2:34.47 and 2:35.02. A half-lap later, with the pacer gone, Aregawi found himself in the front, tailed by 12:46.21 performer Telahun Haile and ’16 bronze medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet, with Cheptegei 4th in the pack of 6. Aregawi ramped up the pace, covering the middle kilo in a torrid 2:32.01 for a 7:41.50 split. Then only 3 were left behind him.
After his initial lap in the front, a 59.93, Aregawi steadied himself at a relentless clip, reeling off circuits all between 60.49 and 61.08. With less than three to go, he dropped Gebrhiwet. Haile looked strongest, until he didn’t, suddenly falling off with 2 to go.
That left only Olympic champion Cheptegei in the hunt behind Aregawi, who ran like a man possessed. As they approached the bell, Cheptegei moved out to pass, but Aregawi refused to let him.
On the penultimate curve, Cheptegei moved again, and once again, Aregawi accelerated. On the backstretch he almost seemed to lose the Ugandan, but Cheptegei mounted one last attack coming off the final turn. Aregawi, looking not at all spent, sprinted away for a 7-meter win, 12:40.45–12:41.61.
The meet record promoted the World Cross runner-up to No. 5 in world history; his last lap took just 55.68. Cheptegei earned status as the fastest non-winner ever.
Afterward, Aregawi might have said more, but the essence of what he told the translator after his historic run was, “I am delighted to be here and to win against Joshua. It was a great atmosphere.”
Another master class in racing was put on by Mary Moraa in the 800. Lined up against favored Briton Keely Hodgkinson, the Kenya got out fast and placed herself behind the pacer, with Swiss Audrey Werro on the outside effectively boxing the 21-year-old world leader in behind Moraa. The rabbit passed halfway in 56.65, and Moraa kept holding Hodgkinson off on the backstretch. Finally, on the final turn, Hodgkinson made her last bid.
Moraa ran wide, forcing the Briton into lane 2, then unleashed a homestretch sprint that Hodgkinson couldn’t answer. Verdict, Moraa, 1:57.43–1:58.37.
Said the winner, “It was a very challenging race and I felt completely empty at the end of it. The weather [not far above 50F/10C] was particularly difficult for me.”
“I wasn’t very happy about this race,” admitted Hodgkinson.
A win by Jakob Ingebrigtsen is no surprise these days, but he had company on the final stretch of the 1500, which made for an exceptionally good race. The rabbits were spot-on, the first leading past 400 in 55.74, then Erik Sowinski taking the Norwegian through 800 in 1:51.75 before dropping out at 1000. Ingebrigtsen stayed in front after that, hitting 1200 in 2:48.00 with Josh Kerr a step behind.
On the final backstretch, new steeple WR-holder Lamecha Girma came up to Kerr’s shoulder. Around the turn they battled, and just when it looked like we might have three fighting to the line, Ingebrigtsen came up with a decisive final sprint to win in 3:28.72. Girma outsprinted Kerr to take 2nd in an Ethiopian Record 3:29.51, with Kerr at 3:29.64.
“I had to make some adjustments with my strategy,” said Ingebrigtsen, who revealed he will focus on just the 1500 in Budapest. “I have been putting in extra miles in the last couple of weeks. It’s all to get myself in the best shape possible for the Worlds.”
The plan for Femke Bol in the 400H was to hammer the first half. She did, building an intimidating lead by that point. The rest of the race looked like a challenge [she dropped back from her 14-step alternate lead pattern at hurdle 7], but she still won overwhelmingly in 52.76, a time no other woman in the world has run this year.
“I knew that the last 100m would be painful,” she said, “but it´s good that I confronted myself to it, so that I can work on it in my training, so that I will be able to reach my goals in Budapest.”
The 100H featured a very solid competition, with Jasmine Camacho-Quinn overcoming the fast start of Tia Jones to take the win in 12.40 into a 1.4 headwind. Tobi Amusan finished just ahead of Jones, 12.47–12.51.
“It felt great, but I also know what I need to work on,” said the Olympic champion.
On the field, Katie Moon only had two clearances in the vault, but she timed them well, taking the win with her successful third attempt over a outdoor-world-leading 15-9¾ (4.82) to defeat a solid performance by Finland’s Wilma Murto, who had led at 15-7¾ (4.77).
“There is nothing like the adrenaline of an actual competition,” said Moon.
Ryan Crouser produced a ho-hum (for him) win at 73-1¾ (22.29) over the 72-1¾ (21.99) of Kiwi Tom Walsh. “To be honest,” said the WR holder, “I am a tad disappointed. I felt great and the potential for a really big throw was there.”
LAUSANNE MEN’S RESULTS
200(-1.4): 1. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 20.01; 2. Jereem Richards (Tri) 20.11; 3. Joe Fahnbulleh (Lbr) 20.21; 4. Reynier Mena (Cub) 20.24; 5. Aaron Brown (Can) 20.44; 6. Andre De Grasse (Can) 20.57.
Non-DL 400: 1. Leungo Scotch (Bot) 44.94; 2. Dylan Borlée (Bel) 45.86; 3. Lionel Spitz (Swi) 45.92; 4. Davide Re (Ita) 45.95.
1500: 1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:28.72 (2:48.00); 2. Lamecha Girma (Eth) 3:29.51 NR; 3. Josh Kerr (GB) 3:29.64; 4. Elliot Giles (GB) 3:31.56 PR; 5. Samuel Tanner (NZ) 3:32.27; 6. Neil Gourley (GB) 3:32.63; 7. Stewart McSweyn (Aus) 3:32.85; 8. Teddese Lemi (Eth) 3:34.21; 9. Pietro Arese (Ita) 3:36.10; 10. Tom Elmer (Swi) 3:36.54;… rabbits—Mounir Akbache (Fra) (55.74), Erik Sowinski (US) (1:51.75).
5000: 1. Berihu Aregawi (Eth) 12:40.45 PR (WL) (5, 6 W) (7:41.50, 10:13.79); 2. Joshua Cheptegei (Uga) 12:41.61 (x, 7 W);
3. Hagos Gebrhiwet (Eth) 12:49.80; 4. Telahun Haile (Eth) 12:49.81; 5. Selemon Barega (Eth) 13:00.20; 6. Birhanu Balew (Bhr) 13:01.41; 7. Kuma Girma (Eth) 13:03.37 PR; 8. Gemechu Dida (Eth) 13:03.50 PR; 9. Magnus Tuv Myhre (Nor) 13:17.79; 10. Ky Robinson (Aus) 13:20.96 PR;… rabbits—Adam Czerwinski (Pol) (2:34.47), Callum Davies (Aus) (5:09.49).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 2)
110H(-1.0): 1. Shunsuke Izumiya (Jpn) 13.22; 2. Jason Joseph (Swi) 13.23; 3. Just Kwaou-Mathey (Fra) 13.37; 4. Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli (Ita) 13.41; 5. Enrique Llopis (Spa) 13.43; 6. Rafael Henrique Pereira (Bra) 13.56; 7. Joshua Zeller (GB) 13.58;… fs—Wilhem Belocian (Fra).
Field Events
LJ: 1. LaQuan Nairn (Bah) 26-7¼ (8.11); 2. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Gre) 26-5¾ (8.07); 3. Yuki Hashioka (Jpn) 26-2¼ (7.98); 4. Simon Ehammer (Swi) 26-1¾ (7.97); 5. Murali Sreeshankar (Ind) 25-10¼ (7.88); 6. Filip Pravdica (Cro) 25-8¼ (7.83).
SP: 1. Ryan Crouser (US) 73-1¾ (22.29) (73-¾, 73-1¾, 72-9¾, 72-5, f, 72-2½) (22.27, 22.29, 22.19, 22.07, f, 22.01); 2. Tom Walsh (NZ) 72-1¾ (21.99); 3. Filip Mihaljević (Cro) 70-3½ (21.42); 4. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 70-3 (21.41); 5. Zane Weir (Ita) 70-1 (21.36); 6. Adrian Piperi (US) 69-8¼ (21.24); 7. Tomáš Staněk (CzR) 67-9 (20.65); 8. Roman Kokoshko (Ukr) 65-6¾ (19.98); 9. Armin Sinančević (Ser) 63-11¾ (19.50).
JT: 1. Neeraj Chopra (Ind) 287-7 (87.66) (f, 274-0, 279-0, f, 287-7, 276-1) (f, 83.52, 85.04, f, 87.66, 84.15); 2. Julian Weber (Ger) 285-6 (87.03) (282-10, f, 273-11, 266-7, 263-2, 285-6) (86.20, f, 83.51, 81.27, 80.22, 87.03); 3. Jakub Vadlejch (CzR) 282-7 (86.13); 4. Oliver Helander (Fin) 273-11 (83.50); 5. Anderson Peters (Grn) 269-9 (82.23); 6. Artur Felfner (Ukr) 268-8 (81.89); 7. Keshorn Walcott (Tri) 268-6 (81.85); 8. Patriks Gailums (Lat) 260-8 (79.45); 9. Curtis Thompson (US) 245-3 (74.75).
LAUSANNE WOMEN’S RESULTS
100(-0.8): 1. Marie-Josée Ta Lou (CI) 10.88; 2. Daryll Neita (GB) 11.07; 3. Gina Lückenkemper (Ger) 11.17; 4. Ewa Swoboda (Pol) 11.17; 5. Zoe Hobbs (NZ) 11.20; 6. Imani Lansiquot (GB) 11.24; 7. Murielle Ahouré-Demps (CI) 11.27; 8. Mujinga Kambundji (Swi) 11.41.
800: 1. Mary Moraa (Ken) 1:57.43; 2. Keely Hodgkinson (GB) 1:58.37; 3. Natoya Goule (Jam) 1:58.90; 4. Catriona Bisset (Aus) 1:58.95; 5. Jemma Reekie (GB) 1:59.32; 6. Audrey Werro (Swi) 1:59.71;… rabbit—Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka (Pol) (56.65).
St: 1. Beatrice Chepkoech (Ken) 9:05.98 (6:06.32); 2. Sembo Almayew (Eth) 9:06.82; 3. Peruth Chemutai (Uga) 9:11.91; 4. Zerfe Wondemagegn (Eth) 9:14.34; 5. Lomi Muleta (Eth) 9:15.35; 6. Maruša Mišmaš-Zrimsek (Slo) 9:19.20; 7. Marwa Bouzayani (Tun) 9:19.87;… rabbit—Fancy Cherono (Ken) (2:58.73).
100H(-1.4): 1. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PR) 12.40; 2. Tobi Amusan (Ngr) 12.47; 3. Tia Jones (US) 12.51; 4. Pia Skrzyszowska (Pol) 12.81; 5. Ditaji Kambundji (Swi) 12.83; 6. Nia Ali (US) 12.83; 7. Nadine Visser (Neth) 13.09; 8. Alaysha Johnson (US) 14.36.
400H: 1. Femke Bol (Neth) 52.76; 2. Viivi Lehikoinen (Fin) 54.67; 3. Ayomide Folorunso (Ita) 55.12; 4. Jessie Knight (GB) 55.13; 5. Anna Ryzhykova (Ukr) 55.41; 6. Viktoriya Tkachuk (Ukr) 55.69; 7. Lina Nielsen (GB) 56.62.
Non-DL 4 x 100: 1. Cote d’Ivoire 42.23 NR (Ahouré-Demps, Ta Lou, Gbai, Koné); 2. Netherlands 43.18; 3. Switzerland 43.35; 4. Denmark 44.14.
Field Events
HJ(6/29, street): 1. Nicola Olyslagers (Aus) 6-7½ (2.02) (=WL; out WL) (6-1½, 6-3¼, 6-4¼, 6-5½, 6-6¾, 6-7½ [2], 6-8¾ [xxx]) (1.87, 1.91, 1.94, 1.97, 2.00, 2.02 [2], 2.05 [xxx]);
2. Iryna Herashchenko (Ukr) 6-6¾ (2.00) =PR; 3. Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukr) 6-5½ (1.97); 4. Morgan Lake (GB) 6-4¼ (1.94); 5. Yuliya Levchenko (Ukr) 6-4¼; 6. tie, Daniela Stanciu (Rom) & Angelina Topić (Ser) 6-4¼; 8. Nafi Thiam (Bel) 6-3¼ (1.91); 9. Elisabeth Pihela (Est) 6-3¼; 10. Salome Lang (Swi) 6-1½ (1.87); 11. Karmen Bruus (Est) 6-0 (1.83).
PV: 1. Katie Moon (US) 15-9¾ (4.82) (out WL, AL) (14-9½ [2], 15-1½, 15-5½ [3], 15-9¾ [3], 16-¾ [xxx]) (4.51 [2], 4.61, 4.71 [3], 4.82 [3], 4.90 [xxx]);
2. Wilma Murto (Fin) 15-7¾ (4.77); 3. Eliza McCartney (NZ) 15-5½ (4.71); 4. Tina Šutej (Slo) 15-1½ (4.61); 5. tie, Margot Chevrier (Fra) & Holly Bradshaw (GB) 14-9½ (4.51); 7. tie, Angelica Moser (Swi) & Nina Kennedy (Aus) 14-9½; 9. Katerína Stefanídi (Gre) 14-9½; 10. Roberta Bruni (Ita) 14-9½; 11. Alysha Newman (Can) 14-5½ (4.41).
JT: 1. Mackenzie Little (Aus) 215-7 (65.70) PR (198-7, 206-4, 202-10, f, 215-7, 177-2) (60.53, 62.91, 61.83, f, 65.70, 54.00); 2. Haruka Kitaguchi (Jpn) 207-10 (63.34); 3. Līna Mūze (Lat) 205-4 (62.58); 4. Adriana Vilagoš (Ser) 203-0 (61.87); 5. Victoria Hudson (Aut) 200-11 (61.24); 6. Kelsey-Lee Barber (Aus) 197-11 (60.34); 7. Liveta Jasiūnaitė (Lit) 197-1 (60.07); 8. Sigrid Borge (Nor) 194-3 (59.20); 9. Elína Tzénggo (Gre) 189-4 (57.71); 10. Ariana Ince (US) 186-1 (56.72).
