Dibaba wins world 1,500m for personal and family honour

Agencies/BeijingIt took little more than four minutes for Genzebe Dibaba to run the full 1,500m distance, but the damage was all done in the last two. Or, more specifically, the 1:57.2 with which she covered the final 800 metres.The opening pace was slow with USA’s Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson leading the field through the first lap in 1:17.06. Defending champion Abeba Aregawi was close behind but Dibaba was near the back. Britain’s Laura Muir moved up behind the US pair after the first 400m.The pace continued to dawdle for the following 300 metres, but Dibaba then made her move with two laps to go.Simpson, the 2011 world champion, got caught up amid the movement in the pack and lost one of her shoes. But Dibaba was away and gone.She covered the penultimate lap in 57.4 but still had company in the form of Aregawi, Dawit Seyaum, European champion Sifan Hassan and Commonwealth champion Faith Kipyegon, so she kept her foot on the pedal during the next lap.Although her pace slowed in the closing stages, her rivals were beginning to feel the effects of trying to stick with Dibaba over the previous 400 metres. One by one, their challenge began to crumble. Dibaba, meanwhile, crossed the line in 4:08.09 to win her first—and long awaited—outdoor senior global title.Kipyegon had moved into second place with 200m to go, only for Hassan to overtake her as she came into the home straight. But the Kenyan clawed back the deficit just before the finish line to take second place in 4:08.96. Hassan held on for third in 4:09.34.Seyaum finished fourth in 4:10.26 while Muir came through for fifth place in 4:11.48, having overtaken Aregawi on the final lap. It may have been the slowest winning time in World Championships history, but few women over the years would have been able to stick with Dibaba on the final two laps.And not only did Dibaba win Ethiopia’s first ever gold in the 1,500m, men’s or women’s, at the World Championships, but she also became the first woman to concurrently hold world indoor and outdoor records and world indoor and outdoor titles.Now she can turn her attention to the 5,000m when she bids to make more history. Based on current form, it would take a brave person to bet against her.Yesterday’s success comes a little over seven years after her elder sister Tirunesh won two of her three Olympic golds in the same arena in the form of a 5,000m/10,000m double. It was just over a month ago that the younger Dibaba shocked the athletics community by bettering the 22-year-old world record over the distance to three minutes 50.07. The 24-year-old holds the indoor world records over 1,500 and 3,000 metres but the real highlight was the outdoor record which had appeared untouchable. Dibaba said “I worked very hard for the last three years” for her fast times and records which culminated in success in Monaco and Beijing, the latter in a comparatively pedestrian 4:08.09 minutes. “It is great to have such a strong performance. I know everybody in this race and I know everything about my competitors, so I was very confident in the last 400m.” Simpson led the slow early stages in search of a second title following 2011. But like others she was reduced to an also-ran once Dibaba kicked at 800, and finished in second last 11th—eight seconds off the pace after ripping her shoe as well. “I was jogging along with everyone else and I kind of paid the price for it,” she quipped.World Championships Day 4 results (all finals)Men’s 800m: 1. David Rudisha (KEN) 1min 45.84sec; 2. Adam Kszczot (POL) 1:46.08; 3. Amel Tuka (BIH) 1:46.30Men’s 400m hurdles: 1. Nicholas Bett (KEN) 47.79; 2. Denis Kudryavtsev (RUS) 48.05; 3. Jeffery Gibson (BAH) 48.17Men’s long jump: 1. Greg Rutherford (GBR) 8.41m; 2. Fabrice Lapierre (AUS) 8.24; 3. Wang Jianan (CHN) 8.18 Women’s 1,500m: 1. Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) 4:08.09; 2. Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (KEN) 4:08.96; 3. Sifan Hassan (NED) 4:09.34Women’s discus: 1. Denia Caballero (CUB) 69.28m; 2. Sandra Perkovic (CRO) 67.39; 3. Nadine Müller (GER) 65.53