Genzebe Dibaba in her 1500m heat at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 (© Getty Images)
One month after recording the fastest 1500m in history, Genzebe Dibaba got her Beijing campaign underway by clocking the fastest 1500m heat time ever at the IAAF World Championships.
The Ethiopian went in the third and final heat, drawn against Commonwealth champion Faith Kipyegon. Albania’s committed front-runner Luiza Gega led, as she often does, for the first half of the race, passing 400m in 1:06.11 and 800m in 2:13.36.
Dibaba then made her move with one lap remaining. Tracked closely by Kipyegon, she covered the final 300m in 44.31 and eventually crossed the line in 4:02.59, the fastest ever 1500m time outside of a final at the IAAF World Championships.
Kipyegon was close behind in 4:02.77 while Morocco’s Rababe Arafi was further back in third, clocking 4:04.17. Maureen Koster, Amela Terzic and Laura Weightman were the other automatic qualifiers from that heat, but Gega eventually faded to 10th and missed out on progressing.
European champion Sifan Hassan won the second heat. Russia’s 2003 world champion Tatyana Tomashova built up a huge lead – not that she was going at a particularly fast pace; it was more that no one was willing to go with her – which she maintained until the final lap. But the rest of the field were gaining on her with Hassan, Dawit Seyaum and defending champion Abeba Aregawi finally catching Tomashova before the line.
Hassan won in 4:09.52 with Seyaum a stride behind in 4:09.64. Aregawi clocked 4:10.77, just 0.02 in front of Tomashova, with 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson and Poland’s Angelika Cichocka also progressing by right.
The first heat was a lot closer throughout. Colombia’s Pan American Games champion Muriel Coneo led the field during the early stages with the rest of the field bunched up close behind. With a lap to go, Kenya’s Nancy Chepkwemoi and Britain’s Laura Muir had made their way through the pack.
Muir and Chepkwemoi were still leading coming into the home straight, but Ethiopian teenager Besu Sado came through in the closing stages to take the win in 4:05.39, her second-fastest time to date.
Just half a second covered the top nine places. Muir finished second, just ahead of Chepkwemoi and US record-holder Shannon Rowbury. Betlhem Desalegn and Anna Shchagina were the other automatic qualifiers, while Coneo was rewarded for her early front-running with a national record of 4:08.31 and a non-automatic qualifying spot.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
