Houlihan Wins Fan and Editors' Choice Awards for Second Time in Three Weeks

Track and field fans voiced their choices in this week's DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll, while DyeStat's editors made their own selection.

Readers’ Choice: Shelby Houlihan

With 62.57 percent of the vote, Shelby Houlihan won our Readers’ Choice vote, beating Noah Lyles with his second-place tally of 12.29 percent.

Houlihan has done it again. Competing for the first time since winning the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships, she took to the track and the Lausanne Diamond League meeting as one of the favorites.

The race was not supposed to be easy for Houlihan. She was up against several of the top middle distance runners in the world, including Great Britain's Laura Muir, South Africa's Caster Semenya, Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay and Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands.

In the end, Houlihan would not be denied the victory. She crossed the line nearly a second clear of the field in 3:57.34. That time is good for the second-fastest time in the world this year and fourth on the American all-time performer list. Only Shannon Rowbury, Mary Decker Slaney and Jenny Simpson have run faster.

Editors’ Choice: Shelby Houlihan

One of the top races going into the Lausanne Diamond League meeting was the Noah Lyles and Michael Norman matchup over 200 meters. That race did not disappoint with Lyles getting the win and equaling his world lead from the Prefontaine Classic of 19.69. Norman led through the 100 meters, but it was all Lyles in the second half. Norman finished second in 19.88, his second-fastest time ever over the distance.

However, it was Houlihan who stole the show. She started the 1,500 conservatively, going out in the middle of the pack. The rabbits set a fast early pace that strung out the field. After the first lap, Houlihan was 10 meters off the lead.

Over the second lap, Houlihan moved up through the field to sit on the shoulder of Muir. Ahead of them were the rabbits, Semenya, Tsegay and Ethiopia's Besu Sado.

In the penultimate lap Sado fell away, unable to maintain the fast pace. But Hassan moved up to make her presence known in the leading group. Then over the 100 meters before the bell, Tsegay opened a gap on the field of nearly five meters.

At the bell, it was Tsegay leading and Houlihan back in fifth. On the back straight it was Muir leading the charge to catch Tsegay. Muir faced similar circumstances in Stockholm where she finished second to the Ethiopian. Muir was followed by Hassan and Houlihan. With 150 meters to go, the race was Muir, Hassan and Houlihan. Tsegay had been passed for good.

Entering the final straight, Houlihan moved out into lane two as she shifted gears to make her kick for home. With 50 meters to go, Houlihan was in the lead and pulling away from Muir and Hassan. It was another big win for the Iowa native and the second Diamond League win of her season and career.

Houlihan once again demonstrated her great finishing speed. She closed the final 100 meters more than a second faster than anyone else in the field. The only question remaining is what Houlihan can do against the world record holder, Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia, who has mostly raced in small meets instead of the large Diamond League events.