Simply the Finest--Monaco DL

This is a blog that honors and specializes in Records and (Top 24) Marks.
And today, in the tiny Principality called Monaco, Track and Field history was made.
A World Record--though many deny its legality or existence by excluding it from their lists--once believed to be invincible, and even of an Alice in Wonderland/Wizard of Oz/White Rabbit-type nature--has been broken!

Genzebe Dibaba, a stunningly beautiful Ethiopian woman, finally took down one of "those" records set by a group of Chinese women in both 1993 and 1997.

Say goodbye to Ms Qu Yunxia, who ran an absolutely unbelievable WR in 1993--a 1500 meter time of 3:50.46, which is basically equivalent to a Mile of around 4:07.

Dibaba's pace was set by rabbit Chanelle Price, who ran a startling 60.31 first 400, with both Dibaba and Sifan Hassan right behind, followed by the top 2 Americans, Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury.

Simpson was aiming at Mary Slaney's American Record, set back in 1983, of 3:57.12.

It's telling that it took a runner with a 1:59 credential to be the rabbit for Dibaba.
She did a great job, but was a second off the asked-for 2:03, hitting the 800 in 2:04.62.
(There supposedly was a second rabbit--from the Ukraine??--but I didn't even see her in the video.
It was Chanelle, Genzebe, and Sifan through 800.)

When someone runs as smoothly and effortlessly as Dibaba does (a trait she shares with sister Tirunesh!), it's hard to tell she's picking up the pace.

But after those laps of 60.31 and 64.21, Dibaba ran a stunning 60.10, bringing her to 1200 in 3:04.62.
Her final 300 was 45.45, and her final 400 was estimated at 60 even.

For the Record, which again is what this blog is about, Dibaba's run did the following.

Besides the World Record and the National Record of Ethiopia, she also got the Age 24 Record.
It's the Monaco Meet Record.
She moves from 9th A-T World to 1st.
And she improves her times on 2 Combined Events lists.
On the Combined Events list for 1500 and 3000, her 3:50.07 and 8:26.21 add to 12:16.28.
This moves her from 7th to 5th on that list.
On the Combined Events list for 1500 and 5000, her times of 3:50.07 and 14:15.41 add to 18:05.48.
This merely widens her gap to the 2nd person on the list to about 9 seconds.

Jenny Simpson did NOT break Slaney's AR.
She came close, however.
Her time of 3:57.30 is her 2nd best, just 0.08 back from her PR, and 0.18 behind Slaney.

No, Jenny did not break that record.
But Shannon Rowbury did!!

I'm not totally shocked by this, as Rowbury's 2014 showed she was becoming America's best all-around runner on the track.
(If you included the Roads, you'd have to give that prize to Molly Huddle, and maybe historically, to Shalane Flanagan.)
But if one were to place bets today, their money would have been on Simpson to get the record!

From what I could see on the video---and the camera mostly was on Dibaba--Simpson led Rowbury throughout the first 1200, but only by a few hairs.
So it was somewhere on the final lap that she passed Simpson, and took the AR that "belonged" to Jenny!

Something tells me we won't have to wait another 32 years for THIS record to go!
(Maybe not even ONE year!!)

Besides the American Record, Rowbury nabbed the Age 30 Record, which was Svetlana Masterkova's 3:57.11 from 1998.
This makes her 19th A-T World.
And she moves from 5th to 1st on the US list!

But Rowbury didn't beat 2nd placer Sifan Hassan!
Hassan got the National Record of the Netherlands.
She now ranks 16th A-T World.
And she got one of two Age Records!
What?
You see, I don't know her exact birthdate.
Athletics Annual only has it listed as being in 1993--no month or day.
So she's either 21 or 22.
On a positive note, her 3:56.05 would break either one!
If I can find an exact birthdate, I'll let you know!

Others ran well in this amazing race too.

Laura Muir finally broke 4:00, becoming Great Britain's 2nd fastest ever, time of 3:58.66.

Maureen Koster of the Netherlands also broke 4:00, running 3:59.79

Ethiopians (except for Genzebe!!) don't run the 1500 very often, it seems, so Besu Sado's time of 4:00.65 probably ranks VERY high on their A-T list.

Treniere Moser and Kerri Gallagher had decent races, but finished far back!
Sarah Brown was actually last, in 14th place, and she ran 4:09.17!

Cut OFF my World DDD were two oldies.
Nadezhda Raldugina and Yekaterina Podkopayeva both had times from 1984.

And the Men's 1500 wasn't bad either!
(Someone on the T&FN Message Board said today was the greatest day in 1500 history!
Not totally sure about that, but it definitely was VERY much near the top!!)

No WR, but Asbel Kiprop is edging ever closer to that almost-apocryphal 3:26.00 of the legendary Hicham El Guerrouj!

Kiprop won over a deep field, timed in 3:26.69.
The pace was almost as insane as in the women's race, as they hit the "quarters" in 53, 57, and 55.
But after the rabbit left, it was all Kiprop, as 2nd finished about 2 seconds back.

Numerous Place Records were broken, as were several other records.
Let's take a look.

Kiprop got the Monaco Meet Record.
He improved his leading 800-1500 Combined Events time to 5:09.84 (1:43.15 and 3:26.69).
But he did NOT get Kenya's National Record.
That still belongs to FORMER Kenyan Bernard Lagat, when he ran 3:26.34 in 2001.
And he moves from 5th to 3rd on the A-T World list.

Taoufik Makhloufi was 2nd, running 3:28.75.
He's now 7th A-T World.

Abdelaati Iguider was 3rd in 3:28.79.
He's now 8th A-T World.

In 4th was Mo Farah!
And he nabbed the best-ever 4th Place mark to prove it!
Despite not getting a PR, he did get the Age 32 Record with his 3:28.93.
In fact, he's the oldest sub-3:30 man ever!

Nick Willis's 3:29.66 is now the best 5th Place mark!
It also breaks his own New Zealand National Record.
And it makes him 24th A-T World.

Just 0.01 behind Willis, in 3:29.67, came Elijah Manangir.
It's the best-ever 6th Place mark.
But he misses the World list by that same 0.01 seconds!!

Robert Biwott got the Age 19 record with his 3:30.10.
(It's not the fastest teenage time, as that belongs to Ronald Kwemboi's 3:28.81 from last year, when he was 18.)

The best 8th and 9th Place times were run by Aman Wote (8th in 3:30.29) and Collins Cheboi (9th in 3:30.34).

After giving up his best-ever 9th Place mark to Cheboi, Matthew Centrowitz "gained" the best-ever 10th Place mark with his PR of 3:30.40.
Imagine running 3:30.40...and finishing TENTH!!
Wow!!

Besides that somewhat dubious reward, a more positive result was that Centro's time moves him from 7th to 3rd on the A-T US list!

Four runners were 86'ed FROM my World DDD list.

Steve Cram's 3:29.67 from 1985 is gone.
So are the 3:29.77's of Nixon Chepseba (2012), Sydney Maree (1985), and a person who MIGHT be the next President of the IAAF, Mr Sebastian Coe!!
His 3:29.77 dates from 1986.

In one of the opening field events of the meet, Joe Kovacs EXPLODED out to 74-0.25 (22.56) in the Shot Put in the 2nd round, which is the best throw in a dozen years!
It's the Monaco Meet Record.
And the Age 26 Record.
He moves from 8th to 4th on the A-T US list.
And from 12th to 8th on the A-T World list.

My DDD for the SP includes the marks of Randy Barnes and Kevin Toth, even though their marks came DURING years when they were each busted for drugs!
The FAST Annual and Athletics Annual both list their marks, albeit with an asterisk!
T&FN doesn't list them, as their "rule" is that ALL marks from a drug bust year are excluded from record or list consideration!
I disagree.

The Men's 800 and the Women's 3000SC were productive for my Record Book.

Amel Tuha of Bosnia was the surprise winner of a pretty good---and deep---race!
His time of 1:42.51 is the new National Record of Bosnia.
And it makes him 11th A-T World.

Ayanleh Souleiman ran a PR of 1:42.97, improving his total time on my Combined Events list for the 800 and 1500.
His times of 1:42.97 and 3:29.58 add to 5:12.55.
He moves from 9th to 7th, tied with 1 other, on that list.
It also breaks his own National Record of Djibouti.

Boris Berian continues to amaze.
(Or maybe not!  Consistency doesn't amaze!)
He improved his PR by half a second, to 1:43.34.
He moves from 10th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 5th.

In the Women's Steeple, it was Habiba Ghribi's 9:11.28 leading a solid field.
No PR for her, but it did set a new Monaco Meet Record.

Hyvin Jepkemoi Kiyang ran 9:12.51 for a PR.
She moves from 19th to 13th on the A-T World list.

Former rabbit-turned-stud Virginia Nyambura improved to 9:13.85.
She moves up 2 spots on the A-T World list, from 20th to 18th.

Salimi El Quali Alami's 9:20.64 broke her own National Record of Morocco.

It just wasn't Emma Coburn's day...or even DAYS!
She apparently became ill in the days before the race, so her 9:23.91 in 10th place should be looked at as an anomaly.

The sprints--both 4X100 Relays, and the Men's 100 and Women's 200--produced good marks....and interesting results.

The Relays started things off in the Sprint Department.

The US Women divided into 2 teams, and took the first 2 spots against a team from Spain.

The "A" team, composed of English Gardner, Allyson Felix, Jenna Prandini, and somewhat surprisingly, HS PRO Kaylin Whitney on anchor, ran 41.96.

The "B" team ran a good 42.27.

For the Men, Trayvon Bromell handed off to Justin Gatlin (somewhat shakily, I've heard!), who handed off to Tyson Gay, followed by Mike Rodgers..
They ran "just" 37.87.
(Probably caused by that one poor hand-off!)

Neither team got the Meet Record.

Gatlin again had his way with the mere mortals, which included Gay and Bromell.
Well, Bromell False Started, and didn't get to race!
Gatlin's time was an average---for HIM!!--9.78.
(Gay followed in 9.97.)

A somewhat surprising Women's 200 winner was Candyce McGrone, who seems to be having her best year yet!
Her PR time of 22.08 just edged out Dafne Masters, who ran 22.09.

Dafne MASTERS???
Well, that's the way the Entry list had her name before the race.
I asked about it, and someone on the T&FN MB said "masters" in Dutch means "skipper" as in a boat's Captain!!
So that's how SCHIPPERS translates!!
Good old IAAF!!
LOL

Anyway, McGrone's time of 22.08 is rated 12th A-T US.

Jeneba Tarmoh also PR'ed, her 22.23 making her 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other!

The 17 year old Whitney had a busy day.
Just about one hour after her Relay anchor, she finished 5th in the 200 with a good---but not a PR!--22.54.

Actually, she originally was dubbed as being 6th.
But Blessing Okagbare was DQ'ed, so Whitney moved up a place, to 5th.

Christian Taylor TJ'ed 58-3, which is the Monaco Meet Record.
He beat Senor PPPP, aka Pablo Pedro etc Pichardo.

Finishing off my Monaco report, we turn to the Men's 3000 meters.

It wasn't super fast--the winner being Caleb Ndiku in 7:35+--but it produced 3 marks of note.

Ali Kaya's 7:38.65 is the National Record of Turkey.

Garrett Heath's 7:37.97 and Ben Blankenship's 7:38.08 both made the A-T US list.

Heath is now 13th A-T US, while Blankenship is 15th.

I have other material---from other meets---but I've decided to save that for a couple of days, as there's some meets that are still ongoing, and another "lesser" European meet or two that will fill up the next couple of days.
So no later than Monday, I'll have another post, with ALL the noteworthy Marks and Records that occur.

Until then, savor what Genzebe Dibaba did for the sport of Track and Field today in Monaco!

And let's congratulate both Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson for keeping their spirits and dreams alive, and for providing us with a FANTASTIC quest for the American Record!!