Monaco Plays Host to Women's Mile World Record

By Adam Kopet

Sifan Hassan broke the mile world record Friday in the Brave Like Gabe Mile at the Monaco Diamond League meeting. She dominated the race, running 4 minutes, 12.33 seconds, eclipsing the 1996 mark of 4:12.56 belonging to Russia's Svetlana Masterkova.

RESULTS

Hassan, of The Netherlands and the Nike Oregon Project, made her intentions known in the lead-up to Friday. The requested pacing would have seen her follow the rabbit through 800 meters in 2:04.

However, when the racing began, the desired pace never materialized. A 64-second opening lap ended any chance of reaching 800 meters in 2:04. A second 64-second lap brought Hassan through the halfway point in 2:08.2.

From that point on, the race was Hassan's. She had company until the bell with Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay keeping the race close, but a 61-second third lap meant Tsegay was near her red-line.

Hassan powered around the track on the final lap. The slow early pace left her with energy still to burn and she burned it. The moment Hassan crossed the finish line, she looked up and smiled. Then her hands were in the air in celebration. She had broken the world record.

It was Great Britain's Laura Weightman who managed to finish second, running 4:17.60. Behind her was Canada's Gabriela DeBues-Stafford in 4:17.87, a national record. Tsegay finished fourth in a season's best 4:18.31.

Rachel Schneider, the only American in the race named for the recently passed Gabe Grunewald, finished ninth in 4:20.91. That proved to be nearly a five-second personal best over her absolute best set indoors in 2017, elevating Schneider to the No. 5 all-time American outdoor performer.

In other middle-distance action, Nijel Amos, of Botswana and the Oregon Track Club Elite, won the 800 meters in 1:41.89. That is the fastest time run since the 2012 Olympic final when David Rudisha ran 1:40.91 to break the world record. Amos captured silver in that race in 1:41.73.

In all, the top-three runners in the men's 800 meters bettered Donavan Brazier's 1:43.63 world lead. Kenya's Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich finished second in a personal-best 1:42.54. Amel Tuka of Bosnia and Herzegovina was third in 1:43.62.

The men's pole vault featured plenty of drama. A week after Poland's Piotr Lisek won a jump-off with a clearance of 19-8.50 (6.01m). This week, five men were still jumping at 19-5 (5.92m) with Lisek, Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Thiago Braz of Brazil all going clear.

Lisek, who had maintained a clean card through 19-5, continued that trend with a first attempt clearance at 19-7 (5.97m). Duplantis took one failed attempt before passing to the next height and Braz passed all of his attempts.

Then at 19-9 (6.02m) Lisek went clear again at the first time of asking. Duplantis missed on his final two attempts and Braz was unable to go clear with his three attempts.

Once again the winner, Lisek raised the bar to 19-10.50 (6.06m). A clearance would have placed him second on the outdoor all-time performer list. However, despite two solid attempts with good hip height, Lisek missed all three attempts. If Lisek can maintain his form, it seems likely he will be able to clear a similar height at some point this season.

Back on the track with the women's hurdle events, Sydney McLaughlin ran a strong race to win the 400-meter hurdles in a world-leading 53.32, closing in on her personal best of 52.75. Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic and Ashley Spencer once again dueled for second place, repeating the battle that came in Lausanne. This time it was Spencer getting the upper hand, finishing second in 54.46. Hejnova was third in 54.55. Kori Carter, the reigning world champion, ran a strong first half of the race, but she faded late to finish seventh in 55.63.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Keni Harrison used a strong middle section of her race to pull away to win in a season's best 12.43. Behind her, Danielle Williams of Jamaica and Christina Clemons finished second and third in 12.52 and 12.62, respectively. World-leader Janeek Brown of Jamaica, who turned pro after winning the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships last month, finished fourth in 12.71.

In the men's sprints, many wanted to see what Noah Lyles could do following his 19.50-clocking at 200 meters last week. Racing the 100 meters in Monaco, Lyles faced reigning world champion Justin Gatlin. Lyles got a good start, but he never found his full speed to catch the fast starting Gatlin. Gatlin won in 9.91 with Lyles just behind in 9.92. Michael Rodgers completed an American sweep, finishing third in 10.01.

The 400 meters nearly derailed the meet with a strange incident at the start. Kahmari Montgomery false started, but the runners in the outside three lanes did not appear to hear the recall. Jonathan Jones, a Texas freshman from Barbados, ran the entire race not knowing that the race had been recalled. He and Anthony Jose Zambrano of Colombia did not contest the event on the restart, but Jones unofficially clocked 44.6.

Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas won the race in 44.51. Qatar's Abderrahman Samba, making his return from injury, finished second in 45.00. Nathan Strother finished third in 45.54.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas continued her undefeated streak in the 200 meters. She won going away in 22:09. Jamaica's Elaine Thompson was second in 22.44, just ahead of Dafne Schippers of The Netherlands in 22.45. Teahna Daniels finished fourth in 22.59.

The men's triple jump saw three 18-meter jumpers compete for the second time, both in history and in the past week. Will Claye took the lead with his second-round jump of 58-3 (17.75m). However, Christian Taylor responded immediately with a jump of 58-3.25 (17.76m). Taylor would improve to 58-5.75 (17.82m) to take the win. Claye did not improve on his third jump and passed his final three jumps. Portugal's Pedro Pablo Pichardo finished third with a best of 57-0.25 (17.38m).