Ethiopian star Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi raced to new meeting records with comfortable performances for Africans in front of 50,266 spectators at the Meeting Areva/Diamond League inside the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.
Dibaba, the Olympic 10,000m champion, won the women’s 5,000m in 14:23.68, thus erasing Vivian Cheruyot’s previous record set in 2010 by nearly four seconds. It is also the best performance in the world this year.
Her compatriots Almaz Ayana was second in a personal best 14:25.84, Gelete Burka was third in a season’s best 14:42.07, Sule Utura was fourth in a season’s best 14:59.74 and Buze Diriba was fifth (15:01.44).
Ezekiel Kemboi, the reigning Olympic champion, raced away in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase to win with a world leading time 7:59.03 whilst pulling Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi to an European record in the process.
Olympic silver medallist, Mahiedine Mekhissi, broke the record previously held by compatriot Bob Tahri in 8:00.09 with Paul Kipsiele Koech, last year’s winner, way behind in 8:09.17 for third place.
Djibouti athlete Ayanleh Souleiman took the 1500m win in 3:32.55, bettering his season’s best, ahead of Ethiopian Aman Wote (3:32.65, PB) and American Leonel Manzano (3:33.14).
Double Olympic and World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica won the women’s 100m by a hundredth of a second ahead of fast improving Nigerian star Blessing Okagbare. Fraser-Pryce was timed at 10.92 with Okagbare, who dipped too early, second in 10.93 and Ivorian Murielle Ahoure third in 11.01.
Francine Nyonsaba of Burundi won the women’s 800m in 1:57.26 ahead of the Moroccan Malika Akkaoui, who beat her personal best in 1:57.64, and American Alysia Montano (1:57.75).
Complete Results
Men
200m -1, Usain Bolt, Jamaica, 19.73. 2, Warren Weir, Jamaica, 19.92. 3, Christophe Lemaitre, France, 20.07. 4, Jason Young, Jamaica, 20.12. 5, Nickel Ashmeade, Jamaica, 20.21. 6, Jimmy Vicaut, France, 20.30. 7, Maurice Mitchell, United States, 20.61. 8, Mickael-Meba Zeze, France, 21.29.
400m -1, Kirani James, Grenada, 43.96. 2, LaShawn Merritt, United States, 44.09. 3, Tony McQuay, United States, 44.84. 4, David Verburg, United States, 44.97. 5, Pavel Maslak, Czech Republic, 45.13. 6, Christopher Brown, Bahamas, 45.24. 7, Calvin Smith, United States, 45.33. 8, Mame-Ibra Anne, France, 45.73.
1,500m -1, Ayanleh Souleiman, Djibouti, 3:32.55. 2, Aman Wote, Ethiopia, 3:32.65. 3, Leonel Manzano, United States, 3:33.14. 4, Mohamed Moustaoui, Morocco, 3:33.18. 5, Lawi Lalang, Kenya, 3:33.20. 6, Benson Seurei, Burundi, 3:33.33. 7, Florian Carvalho, France, 3:33.47. 8, Bouabdellah Tahri, France, 3:33.89.
3,000 Steeplechase -1, Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenya, 7:59.03. 2, Mahiedine Mekhissi Benabbad, France, 8:00.09. 3, Paul Kipsiele Koech, Kenya, 8:09.17. 4, Roba Gari, Ethiopia, 8:12.22. 5, Benjamin Kiplagat, Uganda, 8:13.07. 6, Nouredine Smail, France, 8:15.89. 7, Hamid Ezzine, Morocco, 8:17.67. 8, Yoann Kowal, France, 8:20.41.
110m Hurdles -1, Aries Merritt, United States, 13.09 seconds. 2, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, France, 13.12. 3, David Oliver, United States, 13.13. 4, Andrew Riley, Jamaica, 13.14. 5, Ryan Brathwaite, Barbados, 13.14. 6, Ryan Wilson, United States, 13.15. 7, Jason Richardson, United States, 13.22. 8, Thomas Martinot-Lagarde, France, 13.26. 9. Dayron Robles, Cuba, 13.40.
Long Jump -1, Damar Forbes, Jamaica, 8.11m. 2, Chris Tomlinson, Britain, 8.08. 3, Louis Tsatoumas, Greece, 8.02. 4, Greg Rutherford, Britain, 7.99. 5, Ignisious Gaisah, Ghana, 7.96. 6, Godfrey Khotso Mokoena, South Africa, 7.87. 7, Kafetien Gomis, France, 7.86. 8, Michel Torneus, Sweden, 7.82. 9, Nicolas Gomont, France, 7.71. 10, Dwight Phillips, United States, 7.66. 11, Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwe, 7.35.
Pole Vault -1, Renaud Lavillenie, France, 5.92m. 2, Jan Kudlicka, Czech Republic, 5.70. 3, Konstantinos Filippidis, Greece, 5.70. 4, Raphael Holzdeppe, Germany, 5.60. 5, Brad Walker, United States, 5.60. 6, Steve Lewis, Britain, 5.60. 7, Augusto Dutra, Brazil, 5.60. 8, Valentin Lavillenie, France, 5.45.
Discus -1, Robert Harting, Germany, 67.04m. 2, Ehsan Hadadi, Iran, 65.53. 3, Gerd Kanter, Estonia, 65.30. 4, Vikas Gowda, India, 64.45. 5, Yennifer Frank Casanas, Spain, 63.89. 6, Robert Urbanek, Poland, 63.33. 7, Erik Cadee, Netherlands, 62.97. 8, Benn Harradine, Australia, 62.62. 9, Lolassonn Djouhan, France, 58.89.
Women
100m -1, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica, 10.92. 2, Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria, 10.93. 3, Murielle Ahoure, Ivory Coast, 11.01. 4, Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Trinidad and Tobago, 11.10. 5, English Gardner, United States, 11.13. 6, Ivet Lalova, Bulgaria, 11.20. 7, Shalonda Salomon, United States, 11.21. 8, Myriam Soumare, France, 11.29.
800m -1, Francine Niyonsaba, Burundi, 1:57.26. 2, Malika Akkaoui, Morocco, 1:57.64. 3, Alysia Montano, United States, 1:57.75. 4, Kate Grace, United States, 1:59.47. 5, Marilyn Okoro, Britain, 1:59.76. 6, Siham Hilali, Morocco, 2:00.15. 7, Marina Arzamasova, Belarus, 2:00.70. 8, Ajee Wilson, United States, 2:00.90.
5,000m -1, Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopia, 14:23.68. 2, Almaz Ayana, Ethiopia, 14:25.84. 3, Gelete Burka, Ethiopia, 14:42.07. 4, Sule Utura, Ethiopia, 14:59.74. 5, Buze Diriba, Ethiopia, 15:01.44. 6, Molly Huddle, United States, 15:10.56. 7, Alemitu Haroye, Ethiopia, 15:11.78. 8, Genet Yalew, Ethiopia, 15:12.05.
400m Hurdles -1, Zuzana Hejnova, Czech Republic, 53.23. 2, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Britain, 53.96. 3, Georganne Moline, United States, 54.19. 4, Denisa Rosolova, Czech Republic, 54.38. 5, Kaliese Spencer, Jamaica, 55.22. 6, Ristananna Tracey, Jamaica, 55.33. 7, Phara Anacharsis, France, 56.55.
High Jump -1, Anna Chicherova, Russia, 2.01m. 2, Brigetta Barrett, United States, 1.98m. 3, Blanka Vlasic, Croatia, 1.98m. 4, Emma Green Tregaro, Sweden, 1.92m. 5, Ana Simic, Croatia, 1.92m. 6, Inika McPherson, United States, 1.92m. 7, Nadezhda Dusanova, Uzbekistan, 1.89m. 8, Ebba Juigmark, Sweden, 1.85m. Olena Holosha, Ukraine, 1.80m.
Triple Jump -1, Caterine Ibarguen, Colombia, 14.69m. 2, Hanna Knyazheva, Ukraine, 14.58. 3, Olha Saladukha, Ukraine, 14.55. 4, Kimberly Williams, Jamaica, 14.48. 5, Irina Gumenyuk, Russia, 14.07. 6, Dana Veldakova, Slovakia, 13.91. 7, Yekaterina Kayukova-Chernenko, Russia, 13.89. 8, Teresa Nzola Meso Ba, France, 13.82. 9, Snezana Rodic, Slovenia, 13.81. 10, Trecia Smith, Jamaica, 13.68.
Shot Put -1, Valerie Adams, New Zealand, 20.62m. 2, Michelle Carter, United States, 19.57. 3, Nadine Kleinert, Germany, 17.95. 4, Melissa Boekelman, Netherlands, 17.65. 5, Yuliya Leontyuk, Belarus, 17.55. 6, Ursula Ruiz Perez, Spain, 17.17. 7, Jessica Cerival, France, 17.04.
Javelin -1, Christina Obergfoell, Germany, 64.74m. 2, Kimberley Mickle, Australia, 64.35. 3, Madara Palameika, Latvia, 61.36. 4, Kathryn Mitchell, Australia, 60.86. 5, Martina Ratej, Slovenia, 59.20. 6. Mercedes Chilla, Spain, 55.99. 7, Sinta Ozolina-Kovala, Latvia, 55.97. 8, Matilde Andraud, France, 53.20.
Meet The Authors
Yomi is the founder of Africa's number one track and field website - AthleticsAfrica. A multi award-winning editor, journalism innovator, media trainer, sports and digital transformation consultant.
