Selemon Barega, Beatrice Chepkoech and Akani Simbine were among the athletes to make their mark at the Yangtze Delta Athletics Diamond Gala, the second Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season, in Suzhou on Saturday (27).
One week on from the opening Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, there were also back-to-back wins for Mondo Duplantis, who attempted another world record in the pole vault, plus Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Daniel Roberts, Marileidy Paulino and Valarie Allman.
The men’s 5000m was the penultimate race of the evening and it saw the meeting record fall as Ethiopia’s Olympic 10,000m champion Barega got his season started with a win. The 24-year-old, who closed his indoor campaign by gaining world 3000m bronze in Glasgow, held off the challenge posed by his 17-year-old compatriot Biniam Mehary, racing just his second ever 5000m.
After battling down the back straight, Barega led off the final bend and was able to respond to Mehary’s strong finish to win, 12:55.68 to 12:56.37. Kenya’s world cross country bronze medallist Benson Kiplangat was third in a PB of 12:58.78.