English
The Swedish highlight in the summer’s eighth Diamond League competition came from Aregawi who this time contented herself with cruising with the leaders and not putting on any pressure until a hundred metres from the finish. But then she really took off and in the short stretch remaining managed to build up an eight tenths of a second victory with 4:03.70 after a last lap of just under 59 seconds. In doing so, Abeba racked up her fourth consecutive Diamond League victory and is undefeated in the eight races she has run this year.
Kim Amb fifth
In the javelin, Kim Amb threw better as the competition progressed and finished with 80.67 and 81.11 which secured him fifth place. The winner was double Olympic Champion, Andreas Thorkildsen with 83.94.
One place back was Michel Torneus in the long jump since he was unable to get his approach right with his last steps onto the take-off board. He recorded between 7.47 and 7.81 with his six jumps. European Indoor Champion, Russia’s Aleksandr Menkov jumped the furthest with 8.27, 16 centimetres longer than Olympic Champion, Greg Rutherford.
Mo won again
The most attractive international event was the men’s 5000m where home favourite and double Olympic Champion, Mo Farah, in the last race of the evening, used the same tactics as Abeba. He avoided his usual long surge in the final lap and instead only pushed when he and the rest of the pack came round the final bend. And his speed was enough for a five tenths of a second victory in 13:14.24.
There is no doubt that Farah will be one of the favourites at the Moscow World Championships. The weekend before he won the 5000m in the European Athletics Team Championships in Gateshead after running the last lap in a fantastic 50.89!
Jonas Hedman
