Victories for Mo and Hellen at Prefontaine
28th May 2016 – Mo Farah (GBR) and Hellen Obiri (KEN) gave the fans that assembled at the famous Hayward Field a real treat at the latest stop of the IAAF Diamond League series in Eugene.
Racing on the track for the first time since he defended his world titles in Beijing last year, Mo could have been forgiven for allowing himself to ease back in. There was to be none of this though as he contested the 10,000m with the pace was hot from the gun and the field soon in single file. Once the pacemakers had dropped out Mo led much of the race but as he entered the final 250m he was passed on the back stretch. Using all his experience Mo did not panic and bided his time before swinging wide off the final bend to move back into the lead and ease away over the final 50m. Such are the high standards that he sets himself Mo was actually a little disappointed with his winning time of 26:53.71 even though that is the fastest time in the world this year.
Hellen’s season continues to unfold in style as she stepped up to the 5000m to race some of the fastest ladies in the world over the distance. Sitting just behind the leader as halfway was passed Hellen was not content to just sit in and try to utilise her 1500m speed, she went to the front and dictated the rest of the race from there. She was never headed again as she slowly wound the pace up each lap before finishing with a 63 second last 400 to smash her PB and cross the line in 14:32.02. World 10,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) also continued to make solid progress as she plots her route to the Olympics finishing 3rd in 14:35.69.
Former Oregon Ducks star Jenna Prandini (USA) returned to her home track for the first time as a professional and received a warm welcome from her fans. Jenna placed fourth in the 200m in 22.61 seconds. Also fourth was World Indoor finalist Vincent Kibet (KEN) who ran a tactically astute mile race and finished strongly in the last 200m.
Elsewhere, Dina Asher-Smith (GBR) opened her 2016 outdoor campaign with victory over 100m at the Gavardo meeting in Italy. Winny Chebet (KEN) ran a seasons best of 2:00.40 as she placed second over 800m at the Kenyan National Championships. Finally, there was two victories in four days for Rhys Williams (GBR) over 400m hurdles as he clocked 49.58 seconds in Namur, and then went even faster in Oordegem with a time of 49.22 seconds.
Article Tags: Dina Asher-Smith, Hellen Obiri, Jenna Prandini, Mo Farah, Rhys Williams, Vincent Kibet, Vivian Cheruiyot, Winny Chebet