By Brenten Kelly
Genzebe Dibaba came down the final 100-meter stretch with a comfortable lead in the Prefontaine Classic’s 5,000 meters Saturday afternoon, continuing not only her dominance at Hayward Field, but in the world. She has never lost a Pre Classic 5,000-meter event, and this was her third win.
Even with her success, she thinks she could be faster next time.
“If I follow the pacemakers next time, I can have a better time and a better race,” she said.
Dibaba’s winning time was 14 minutes, 26.89 seconds, the fastest in the world this year. She finished 3.4 seconds ahead of fellow Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey and 8.14 ahead of Kenyan Hellen Obiri, who finished third.
“I’m happy and my fastest time is still fast,” Dibaba said. “I am in good shape, and the competition was hard.”
The Hayward Field record holder dipped to second place briefly at the 3,800-meter mark. But Dibaba regained the lead at 4,600 meters.
Gidey not only had a career day, but raced for the first time in the United States. She recorded a personal best and kept pace with Dibaba’s pack the majority of the race. Born in 1998, Gidey was the youngest racer in her event.
“It was a good race,” she said. “The country is very good and very nice. I want to come again to race here.”
Obiri was a favorite along with Dibaba coming into the day, and she set a season best with her third-place finish. Obiri’s recent accolades include her world outdoor gold in the 5,000 in 2017.
Dibaba and Obiri will be the favorites coming into the next Diamond League event in Rome. Now Gidey is one of the up and comers.
