• Degen Gebremeskel wins men 5000m
• Abeba Aregawi wins women 1500m

(Minda Gelay, Sheb Post | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). 2012 Oslo Diamond League Ethiopians Derjen Gebremeskel and Abeba Aregawi win the Gold Medal

MEN 5000M:

Gebremeskel Wins Ethiopian "Trials", Bekele Finishes 5th Dejen Gebremeskel the bronze medallist at last year's World Championships, blitzed the final lap in Olso in 54.36 to win the 5000m in his first outdoor race of the year and remind us all come London it may not just be a Mo Farah, Bernard Lagat affair. Gebremesekel never got the recognition he was due in 2011 as he did not get to stand on the medal stand and receive his medal. He was upgraded to bronze after the award ceremony after Imane Merga was disqualified for shoving.

The race today was billed as a de facto Ethiopian Olympic Trials as it featured all the top Ethiopians. In addition to Gebremeskel and Merga it had one of the greatest distance runners ever Kenenisa Bekele, who is on the comeback trail, his younger brother Tariku Bekele, plus young Ethiopian star Yenew Alamirew, Mr Silver Sileshi Sihine, and Hagos Gebrhiwet, who won the Shanghai Diamond League 5000m. This race featured atrocious pace making. The leader went out in 58.5 the first lap. The first kilometer was in 2:33, but the second kilometer slowed to 2:41. The next was a 2:35 but once the final pace maker dropped the pace slowed again. This one came down to the final lap. There was a different face near the top when the bell rang.

Kenenisa Bekele had put himself in contention. Bekele had been content to run in the back of the big pack which had fourteen guys in it even during the last mile. However, at the bell, Bekele had moved up on the outside to put himself to contend if he could mount a big last lap. However, as has often happened this year, the top guys ran away from Bekele the first 200m of the bell lap. Gebrhiwet and Gebremeskel were battling for the lead with Tariku Bekele in the mix. The final 100m it was a two man battle between Gebremeskel and Gebrhiwet. Gebremeskel just pulled this one out in 12:58.92 to Gebrhiwet's 12:58.99 thanks to a 54.36 last lap. (For reference Mo Farah won at Pre with a 56.14 last lap). Imane Merga moved up for third and Kenenisa Bekele closed very well the last 200m to nearly catch his brother, but settled for a season's best in fifth in 13:00.54. Bekele was 1.62 seconds behind the winner so that would make his last lap 55.98 seconds. However, Bekele was not right on the lead at the bell, so he likely closed in 55.5 or faster. That means he ran faster than at Pre and closed faster here. A step in the right direction.

1 GEBREMESKEL Dejen ETH 12:58.92

2 GEBRHIWET Hagos ETH 12:58.99 PB

3 MERGA Imane ETH 12:59.77 

4 BEKELE Tariku ETH 13:00.41

5 BEKELE Kenenisa ETH 13:00.54 SB

6 KIPSIRO Moses Ndiema UGA13:00.68

7 SIHINE Sileshi ETH 13:01.39

8 DEMELASH Yigrem ETH 13:03.30

9 ALAMIREW Yenew ETH 13:08.12

10 ZERIHUN Yitayal Atnafu ETH 13:08.13 PB

11 BETT Emmanuel Kipkemei KEN13:08.35

12 KUMA Abera ETH 13:09.32

13 ROTICH Lucas Kimeli KEN 13:09.58

14 GABIUS Arne GER 13:13.43 PB

15 MEDHIN Teklemariam ERI 13:17.25

16 BLINCOE Adrian NZL 13:26.43

17 C'KURUI James Kwalia QAT 13:31.63

18 GELANT Elroy RSA 13:32.21

19 BURAAS Sindre NOR 13:39.81

Intermediate times:

1000m Rono, Vincent (KEN) 2:33.81

2000m Rono, Vincent (KEN) 5:16.55

3000m Ndiwa, Remmy Limo (KEN) 7:51.61

4000m Bett, Emmanuel Kipkemei (KEN) 10:32.47

WOMEN 1500M:

Aregawi Still Best in the World as She Wins Stacked Race This race featured the four fastest performers of 2012: Abeba Aregawi and Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia, Helen Obiri of Kenya and Morgan Uceny of the USA, who swept the top 4 spots in Rome with Aregawi, Dibaba, and Obiri all going sub 4. The most shocking performance at Rome was Aregawi running 3:56.54 to defeat Dibaba. Well, Aregawi beating Dibaba is no longer a shocker as it happened again here fairly convincingly - this time in a tactical race over the last 100m as Aregawi won in 4:02.48 to Dibaba's 4:03.28. Anna Mishchenko moved up to third and Helen Obiri was fourth. Morgan Uceny did not have much the last 100m and finished sixth.

Rank Athlete Nation Result

1 AREGAWI Abeba ETH 4:02.42

2 DIBABA Genzebe ETH 4:03.28

3 MISHCHENKO Anna UKR 4:03.33 SB

4 OBIRI Helen KEN 4:04.42

5 LAKHOUAD Ibtissam MAR 4:04.45

6 UCENY Morgan USA 4:05.30

7 MÅKESTAD BOVIM Ingvill NOR 4:06.31

8 PIERCE Anna USA 4:06.91

9 TWELL Stephanie GBR 4:07.49 SB

10 PLIS Renata POL 4:07.87

11 KLOCOVÁ Lucia SVK 4:07.99 NR

12 FERNÁNDEZ Nuria ESP 4:08.82

Intermediate times:

400m Luchkina, Anna (RUS) 1:05.62

800m Luchkina, Anna (RUS) 2:13.94

1200m Måkestad Bovim, Ingvill (NOR) 3:17.97

WOMEN STEEPLE:

Milcah Chemos Wins Again in the Fastest Competitive Steeple Outside of the Olympics or World Champs Milcah Chemos of Kenya ran away from Ethiopian rivals Sofia Assefa and Hiwot Ayalew on the final lap to win her 8th Diamond League title in a personal best of 9:07.14 as the top 3 all broke 9:10. This was the first steeplechase ever outside of the World Championships or Olympics where more than one woman broke 9:10. Pacemaker Lidya Chepkurui did an excellent job in this one. Chepkurui has started to make a name for herself by pace making and then staying in and finishing the race. She took the field out the first kilometer in 3:01.86 and the sub 9:10 clocking was on. Assefa and Ayalew and Chemos were together until the final lap. A 67.56 final lap gave Chemos the win, the Kenyan national record (previous record 9:07.41 by Eunice Jepkorir for silver in Beijing), and made her the fourth fastest women of all-time and first non Russian.

Rank Athlete Nation Result

1 CHEMOS Milcah KEN 9:07.14 AR,MR

2 ASSEFA Sofia ETH 9:09.00 NR

3 AYALEW Hiwot ETH 9:09.61 PB

4 NJOROGE Mercy Wanjiku KEN 9:25.21 SB

5 CHEPKURUI Lidya KEN 9:27.40

6 KRAUSE Gesa Felicitas GER 9:33.10 SB

7 ROTICH Lydia Chebet KEN 9:33.19

8 ADAMU Birtukan ETH 9:36.40 SB

9 MCCOLGAN Eilish GBR 9:38.45 PB

10 BEKELE Mekdes ETH 9:39.09

11 HOFSTEDE Helen NED 10:21.29

Intermediate times:

1000m Chepkurui, Lidya (KEN) 3:01.86

2000m Chemos, Milcah (KEN) 6:08.83