By Chris Chavez
July 23, 2023
Alicia Monson broke her third American record of 2023 with a fifth place finish in Sunday’s London Diamond League in 14:19.45 to break Shelby Houlihan’s 14:23.92 record from 2020.
Here’s what you need to know:
– World champion Gudaf Tesgay won in a meet record and personal best of 14:12.29 to outkick Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet (14:12.92 PB for second place, previous PB was 14:34.55) and Olympic champion Sifan Hassan (14:13.42 PB for third place, previous PB was 14:22.12)
– Monson managed to stay in contact with the leaders as they hit the bell with Hassan leading. They started pulling away from Monson with 300m remaining. Tsegay didn’t make the pass until the final 100m. Tsegay clocked the fifth-fastest time in history for the win.
– Hassan broke her own European record from 2019.
What they said afterward:
Gudaf Tsegay (via Diamond League Flash Quotes): “Today it was all about my time. At the World Champs, it is about the position. Today, my coach wanted to look at my 5000m speed. We will decide about the World Champs 5000 or 10,000 nearer the time. My coach will decide about which or both to do.
Beatrice Chebet (via Diamond League Flash Quotes): “I'm so happy but very confused, I didn't expect it. 14:12 from 14:34 is an amazing result. My target was to come and run my personal best. I'm happy to be on the podium and but it's even better to have a personal best, I knew it was going to be hard so I'm incredibly happy. The crowd was so motivating and encouraging, it made me even happier. My next race will be in Budapest so I have some time to train and prepare ahead of that.”
Alicia Monson: “I knew the training was there and I’ve been training better than ever. To be able to come out here, have a good result and put myself in the race and I’ve learned from Paris and Oslo earlier this year - the American record came with it! Obviously, I’m super happy with it.”
What comes next:
Monson told CITIUS MAG that she will sit down with coach Dathan Ritzenhein to make a decision on whether she will run the 5000m, 10,000m or both at next month’s world championships. Monson has only contested the 10,000m at a global championships with 13th place finishes at the Tokyo Olympics and last years’s world championships.
The women’s 5000m at the world championships is setting up to be an all-time Kenya vs. Ethiopia battle featuring world record holder Faith Kipyegon (14:05.20), former world record holder and last year’s silver medalist Letesenbet Gidey (14:07.94) and Tsegay getting even better. Chebet has emerged as a medal contender as well.
The women’s 10,000m is contested first at the world championships on Saturday, Aug. 19. The 5000m consists of heats on Wednesday, Aug. 23 and a final on Saturday, Aug. 26.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
