'Tired' Hassan misses 5,000m world mark

LOS ANGELES • Double Olympic gold medallist Sifan Hassan dominated the field but came up short in her quest to break the 5,000 metres world record on Friday in her first meet since her star turn at the Tokyo Games.

In front of throngs of hopeful fans and on a picture-perfect night at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, the Ethiopian-born Dutch runner won easily in 14min 27.89sec but failed to beat the record of 14:06.62 set by Letesenbet Gidey last year.

The world-record attempt slipped away from Hassan with about three laps to go, as the toll of running six races at the Olympics appeared to catch up with her.

"The last two laps I knew I wasn't going to break the world record," she said.

"I just want to finish strong and run hard. I had a really tough two weeks at the Olympics. All the emotion with the media and the stress. I'm in shape but I'm just tired. I'm not fresh."

She was still cheered on to the finish by the adoring crowd of more than 5,000 on the opening night of the two-day track meet.

Senbere Teferi (14:42.25) was second and her Ethiopian compatriot Fantu Worku (14:42.85) came in third.

Hassan seized headlines in Tokyo as she attempted an unprecedented Olympic treble, winning the 10,000m and 5,000m but walking away with bronze in the 1,500m.

The 28-year-old also won golds in the 1,500m and 10,000m at the 2019 World Championships. She broke the 10,000m record in June in 29:06.82, only to have Gidey improve that time by five seconds two days later.

The meet resumed yesterday - results were not available at press time - with the women's 100m race set to provide the most compelling storylines of the weekend.

Sha'Carri Richardson, back from her suspension after testing positive for marijuana at the US trials in June, will get a chance to prove her mettle given she will be part of a race that includes all three Tokyo 100m medallists - Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson.

Separately, Asia's fastest man, Su Bingtian, believes he can improve on the continental record set at the Olympics after he became the first Chinese man to qualify for the final of the 100m in Tokyo.

He ran 9.83sec in the semi-finals to break the Asian mark and qualify fastest for the final. The 31-year-old eventually placed sixth in 9.98sec, with Italian winner Lamont Marcell Jacobs clocking 9.80.

"I'm not sure if I'm at the height of my career ladder or not, but I believe that there remain chances in the future to better myself," Su told Chinese broadcaster CCTV.

"Now I've reached 9.83, but I can run faster... I'm 100 per cent sure that this is not my limit, which is very important."

REUTERS