5000m
Muktar Edris made a flying start to his 2016 campaign in the men’s 5000m Diamond Race. The Ethiopian grabbed maximum points in both Shanghai and Eugene.
Two more podium finishes in Oslo and Stockholm meant that Edris was maintaining a significant lead at the top of the Diamond Race. By the time the Zürich final came around, he needed only to finish in the top six and ahead of Yomif Kejelcha to guarantee himself the Diamond Trophy.
In the end, neither Edris nor Kejelcha managed it. In a crazy race, Hagos Gebrhiwet overtook front-runner Evan Jager, while Edris and Kejelcha both slipped out of the top six during the final lap. That meant that Gebrhiwet, against all the odds, stole in at the last to claim the Diamond Trophy.
In the women’s 5000m, the winner was less of a surprise. Beaten to the Diamond Trophy only by Genzebe Dibaba last season, Almaz Ayana was always going to be favourite to win this year.
She looked more than comfortable after three meetings, winning comfortably in all of Doha, Rome and Rabat. Despite not garnering many points in the middle of the season, the Ethiopian held off a late challenge from Mercy Cherono to cling on to top spot in the standings.
3000m steeplechase
In the women’s steeplechase, only a perfect late season was enough to to see Ruth Jebet beat Hyvin Kiyeng to the Diamond Trophy. The two were deadlocked for much of the season, winning in alternate rounds of the Diamond Race to stay level on points throughout the summer.
Only in late summer did Jebet finally find the extra bit of stardust to push her past Kiyeng. She won Olympic gold, before breaking the world record in Paris. Less than a week later, she triumphed at the Diamond Race final in Zürich, beating Kiyeng on the night and ending what had been a most superb duel.
Congratulations to #DiamondRace leader Ruth #Jebet on #Olympic gold at #Rio2016! #DiamondLeague
The men’s steeplechase was more one-sided. Having won in both 2014 and 2015, Jairus Birech was favourite at the start of the season. He was in for a shock, as 2013 winner Conseslus Kipruto beat him over the line comfortably in all of the first three meetings.
That was it for Birech’s title defence, as Kipruto just kept on winning on his way to regaining the Diamond Trophy. Only in Lausanne, where he didn’t compete, did the Kenyan not manage to collect maximum Diamond Race points.
Somebody get a bucket of water because this man is on fire! 4 #DiamondLeague races, 4 world leads and 40 #DiamondRace points!