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World Championships in Athletics: 5000m Gold Medal For Vivian Cheruiyot Completes Double
By David Monti (c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.Used with permission
DAEGU (02-Sep) -- Tonight, Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot became the second woman to win gold medals in the 5000m and 10,000m at the same IAAF World Championships. Cheruiyot crossed the finish line first (14:55.36) in the 5000m. Cheruiyot, 27, successfully defended the title she won at these championships in Berlin two years ago."It's so amazing because to be the second one to win the two races after (Tirunesh) Dibaba, it's something which comes once a life," Cheruiyot said. "I'm really happy."
Photo at left by Giancarlo Colombo, www.photorun.net: Vivian Cheruiyot reaches the 5000m finish line
Vivian Cheruiyot, and teammate Linet Masai, controlled the pace of the race from 2400 meters to the finish. The race began with a quick 71-second opening lap by Japan's Hitomi Niiya, but soon settled down to a pace slower than three minutes per kilometer. Cheruiyot, with Ethiopia's Sentayehu Ejigu and Meseret Defar in tow, hit the 3000m mark in a sluggish 9:19.97, setting up furious dash for the medals in the final two laps. Cheruiyot was leading at the bell, and her 58.7 second final lap was just too much for her rivals to match.
"I was the defending champion, so I should repeat," Cheruiyot said. "Before three laps (to go) I was feeling comfortable. In case someone was going to come and kick all the way to the end, I was pushing."
Cheruiyot's teammate, Sylvia Kibet, and Ethiopia's Meseret Defar finished second and third, the same positions they occupied on the podium at the 2009 edition of these championships. Masai finished sixth. Defar said she had been sick since arriving in Daegu, and her voice sounded weak.
"I take medicine for my stomach, and maybe it makes me lose my power," Defar offered.
From USA Track & Field
September 2, 2011
Women’s 5000m: Lauren Fleshman of Eugene, OR got in the mix with the lead pack and stayed mid-pack
through ten laps before the leaders made a significant change of gears and the race started in earnest. Fleshman continued to fight and was able to pass Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia right at the finish to take seventh in 15:09.25. That matched the highest finish ever in the event by an American, with Libbie Hickman and Jen Rhines placing seventh at the 1997 and 2009 World Championships, respectively. Amy Hastings of Mammoth Lakes, CA finished 15th in 15:56.06. Photo at right by Victor Sailer, www.photorun.net: Lauren Fleshman placed 7th in the women's 5000m.
Athlete Quotes
Lauren Fleshman: “I didn’t expect to be that close to the front. I just wanted to stay out of trouble. Just got off the line, got on the rail and it was perfect. The women in front just kept the pace about where I could hang on and then all the Africans came through just like I expected them to, but it was a bigger pack this time. I just tried to hang on with them. I kind of pretended I was on their team and was looking for the visual clues they were giving each other and was just going to be the one that was the rookie of the group and see if I could follow along the back and then pick a few of them off if possible.“It was great, I’m happy. I was focused the whole way. I stuck to my race plan. I didn’t get overwhelmed by the environment, those are all things I wanted to accomplish here to set me up for next year.”
Amy Hastings: “It didn’t go the way I was hoping by any means. I got out there and the pace felt really hard. I think I recovered and did everything from the first race. But it just wasn’t my day, so I’m going to go back and review things and figure out what I did wrong and I’ll be stronger for next year.”
“It just felt a lot harder than I thought. I don’t know what it was, but it just wasn’t my day. It happens, but I’ll figure it out for sure and come back stronger.”
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. See www.usatf.org.