Genzebe Dibaba and Hellen Obiri in the womens 1500m at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Moscow 2013 (© Getty Images)
Although she didn’t quite live up the lofty hype thrust upon her after producing a pair of sensational world indoor records earlier this year, Genzebe Dibaba has performed admirably over distances ranging from 1500m to 5000m and will be the woman to beat in the 3000m here.
Dibaba leads the world in the 5000m, courtesy of her 14:28.88 run in Monaco, and clocked 8:26.21 over 3000m in Doha but failed to win a race over the distance in four outings outdoors. She’ll be working to fix that in Marrakech.
She’ll face Kenya’s African bronze medallist Janet Kisa, who clocked a career best of 8:32.66 in Brussels. The pair squared off twice in 2014, with Dibaba prevailing on both occasions.
Mimi Belete, who’ll be doubling back in the 1500m, leads the Asia-Pacific squad. She clocked a personal best of 8:30.00 in Doha this year. In a tactical race, European 5000m champion Meraf Bahta of Sweden could also be a factor.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
