IAAF Diamond League: Genzebe Dibaba heads women’s 5000m field in Eugene
Genzebe Dibaba will defend her women’s 5000m title at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 27 May, the meeting organisers announced on Monday (16).
Dibaba, the 2015 IAAF World Athlete of the Year, will be joined by her fellow world champion Vivian Cheruiyot, the pair winning the 1500m and 10,000m gold medals respectively at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
The women’s 5000m will be the highlight of Friday’s Distance Night at Hayward Field, the evening before the main meeting on Saturday.
Last year, Dibaba ran an outdoor personal best and meeting record 14:19.76 just a few weeks before she set the 1500m world record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
She so far has a perfect record in the state of Oregon, also winning the 3000m gold at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 in March.
However, Cheruiyot is the Kenyan 5000m record holder and the only runner with more than one Diamond Race title in this event, after winning the first three from 2010-12.
In addition to Dibaba and Cheruiyot, the meeting organisers have also assembled an illustrious and deep field for this year’s race at the famed Prefontaine Classic.
Gelete Burka, 30, of Ethiopia and a four-time winner over 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic, made a major leap in distance last year, taking on the 10,000m for the first time and the move up was a huge success as she twice ran world-leading marks before finally getting the silver medal behind Cheruyiot in Beijing last August.
Dibaba and Burka will have fellow Ethiopian international runners Ababel Yeshaneh and Alemitu Haroye for company in Eugene.
Read more at: IAAF.org
