Athletics - Niyonsaba signs off season with impressive 5,000m win
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[September 09, 2021]
ZURICH (Reuters) - Francine
Niyonsaba of Burundi finished a frustrating season on a high with
another impressive victory over 5,000 metres on a temporary
city-centre track in the opening session of the two-day Diamond
League final on Wednesday.
For the third time in two weeks Niyonsaba outkicked Kenya's Tokyo
Olympics silver medallist Hellen Obiri to take the honours on a
curtain-raiser evening before Thursday's main event that features a
galaxy of stars.
Niyonsaba, 800 metres silver medallist at the 2016 Olympics, is
banned from her preferred distance because of naturally high levels
of testosterone. She moved up to 5,000m at the Tokyo Games, only to
be disqualified for a lane infringement in her heat.
She spoke this week of the lack of support she had received in
stepping up to the longer distance, but, just as in Brussels last
week and over 3,000m in Paris, she had too much speed for Obiri.
"I love challenges. I have a lot of resilience and determination,"
Niyonsaba said. "I stayed behind most of the race, this was my
tactic. I am still learning after switching from 800m."
Her time of 14 minutes 28.98 seconds will not be recognised as
official because the race was run on a temporary, four-laned 560
metre, banked track in the city centre.
"It was a new experience, we did not know where we can start to kick
and accelerate," Obiri said.
The track also caused confusion in the men's race, as a large gantry
placed 25 metres beyond the barely-noticeable finishing line, left
the leaders hammering on far after the clock was stopped.
It did not effect the result, however, as Ethiopia's 20-year-old
Berihu Aregawi finished strongly to win in an unofficial personal
best of 12:58.65. Birhanu Balew of Bahrain just pipped Kenyan Jacob
Drop for second.
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Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba celebrates after winning the 5000m
REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
Double Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Crouser finally
claimed the Diamond League shot put title with a throw of 22.67
metres, completing an American double as Maggie Ewen won the women's
with 19.41.
Tokyo Olympic champion Mariya
Lasitskene of Russia took the women's high jump, her 2.05 metre leap
being the best by anyone this year.
Sweden's Thobias Montler won the long jump with a final round leap
of 8.17 metres and Serbia's Ivana Spanovic was victorious in the
women's event with 6.96.
After the relatively low-key proceedings on Wednesday, the action
will be of a different magnitude when it switches to the city's
Letzigrund stadium for the main night of the "Weltklasse" meeting in
front of 20,000 fans on Thursday.
There will be finals in 25 events, with the men's and women's 100
metres top of the bill.
Each Diamond League winner will collect $30,000 - half the prize in
2019 - and automatic entry into next year's world championships in
Eugene in the United States.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ed Osmond)
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