Dibaba’s record attempt the main attraction in Stockholm
For the 26th straight year, the Globe Arena will host top-class athletics when the XL Galan, an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting, descends upon Stockholm on Thursday (19).
During the first quarter century of the meeting, there have been no fewer than nine world indoor records established. The most recent of those came last year when Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba demolished the 3000m mark by more than seven seconds, running 8:16.60.
So when Dibaba returns to the XL-Galan on Thursday to run the 5000m, expectations for another stellar performance are high.
Her target is the world indoor record, which incidentally doubles up as the arena record as Meseret Defar clocked 14:24.37 at this meeting six years ago; the same Defar who held the 3000m world indoor record which Dibaba broke last year.
It will be a tall order for Dibaba to challenge the 5000m record as her PB from last summer stands at 14:28.88 and only four runners ever have run faster than 14:24 outdoors. But Dibaba’s outright PBs for the 1500m, 3000m and two miles were all set indoors, so she could be set to continue that trend in what will be her first ever indoor 5000m.
To attack the world indoor record, Dibaba would need to pass through 3000m somewhere in the region of 8:38; below the current world-leading mark for that distance and a time only one other runner managed to surpass last winter. It’s therefore not realistic to expect to have any pacemaker capable of keeping the necessary speed for more than half the distance; from then on she will be all on her own.
Read more at: IAAF.org
