By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2022 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
EUGENE, Oregon — Results from the women’s 5000m heats on Day 6 at the World Athletics Championships here at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Wednesday, as Gudaf Tsegay, Sifan Hassan, Letesenbet Gidey, Dawit Seyaum, and all three Americans made progress to the final.
Despite blazing hot temperatures (90F/36C), both of the women’s 5000m qualifying heats went fast and all but one of the medal favorites advanced to Saturday’s final. Read more: McLaughlin, Bol, and Muhammad all advanced; world 400m hurdles semi-final results
In the first heat, Japan’s Ririka Hironaka set a fast pace (2:57 for the opening kilometer) and the race quickly went to single-file formation. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay and Dawit Seyoum, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, USA’s Karissa Schweizer and Emily Infeld, and Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel made up the lead pack.
Tsegay, who won the silver medal in the 1500m two nights ago, took over the lead on the final lap and got the win in a fast 14:52.64. Seyaum, Chebet, Kipkemboi and Schweizer –who all ran sub-14:54– were the other automatic qualifiers. Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who won the bronze medal in this discipline at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, finished eighth and did not advance.
Schweizer, who finished ninth in the 10,000m here four days ago, felt good about her race.
“Going into a world level there’s just a lot of really big names,” she told reporters. “A lot of them have run some pretty crazy times. So, sometimes it’s hard to really trust yourself and trust your fitness.”
Looking ahead to the final she added: “I know I can hang with the best of them, so I’m just going to put myself into the race, and at the end of the day I’m going to be proud of the race for putting myself in it instead of hanging back.”
Her USA teammate Emily Infeld, who finished sixth in 15:00.98, advanced on time and was the fifth and final time qualifier. She had to work extra hard to get into shape for these championships because she caught COVID at the USA Championships in late June and lost a week of training.
“I feel like I did everything I could,” the always upbeat Infeld said. “I prepared for the heat. The women are just incredible. I really wanted to be in that top five. I knew it was going to be tough.”
Remarkably, the second heat went at nearly an identical pace to the first. Britain’s Liz McColgan led all the way to the 4300-meter mark explaining later that she had picked up a hamstring injury and knew that a fast pace would be her best path to qualifying for the final.
“I picked up a hamstring niggle so my sprint’s just non-existent,” McColgan said. “So for me, I know I can run a strong pace so my best bet for today was to take that out at sub-15:00.” She added: “I knew if it was a sit-and-kick I ain’t making it through.”
Letesenbet Gidey, and Sifan Hassan also made progress from their 5000m heat
The fast pace was perfect for recently crowned world 10,000m champion Letesenbet Gidey who won the heat in 14:52.27. Other medal favorites –Kazakhstan’s Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui, Netherlands’s Sifan Hassan, Norway’s Karoline Grovdahl, and American Elise Cranny— got the rest of the five automatic qualifying spots.
McColgan, and her British teammate Jessica Judd, advanced on time as did Kenya’s Gloria Kite and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka.
“The race went beautifully,” said Hassan who was the Olympic champion at 5000m last year in Tokyo. “It went a bit harder, under 15 minutes. I have not trained much this year. I want to get my body sharp for the final.
“I wanted to be top five and finishing top three gives me more confidence. I need to be more focused and dig deep in the final.”
The three-time world champion in the 800m, Caster Semenya of South Africa, who finished outside the qualifying spots in heat one with 15:46.12, was happy to be back racing again on the global stage after being barred from running her favored two-lap event.
“I think it is great to be able to run here. Just being able to finish the 5k, for me, it is a blessing,” she said. “I am learning and I am willing to learn even more.
“It was hot, could not keep up with the pace, I tried to stick as much as I can. But you know, it is a part of the game.”
Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly
WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 WOMEN’S 5000M HEATS RESULTS – DAY 6
RESULT – HEAT 1
POS COUNTRY ATHLETE MARK DETAILS
1 ETH Gudaf TSEGAY 14:52.64 Q
2 ETH Dawit SEYAUM 14:53.06 Q
3 KEN Beatrice CHEBET 14:53.34 SB Q
4 KEN Margaret Chelimo KIPKEMBOI 14:53.45 SB Q
5 USA Karissa SCHWEIZER 14:53.69 SB Q
6 USA Emily INFELD 15:00.98 SB q
7 JPN Ririka HIRONAKA 15:02.03 SB
8 GER Konstanze KLOSTERHALFEN 15:17.78
9 NED Maureen KOSTER 15:18.17
10 SWE Sarah LAHTI 15:26.05
11 ERI Rahel DANIEL 15:31.03
12 GBR Amy-Eloise MARKOVC 15:31.62 SB
13 RSA Caster SEMENYA 15:46.12
14 JPN Kaede HAGITANI 15:53.39
15 ARG Florencia BORELLI 16:06.36
16 VEN Edymar BREA 16:41.32
AUS Natalie RULE DNF
FIN Camilla RICHARDSSON DNF
RESULT – HEAT 2
POS COUNTRY ATHLETE MARK DETAILS
1 ETH Letesenbet GIDEY 14:52.27 Q
2 KAZ Caroline Chepkoech KIPKIRUI 14:52.54 SB Q
3 NED Sifan HASSAN 14:52.89 SB Q
4 NOR Karoline Bjerkeli GRØVDAL 14:53.07 Q
5 USA Elise CRANNY 14:53.20 Q
6 KEN Gloria KITE 14:53.62 SB q
7 GBR Eilish MCCOLGAN 14:56.47 SB q
8 GBR Jessica JUDD 14:57.64 q
9 JPN Nozomi TANAKA 15:00.21 SB q
10 GER Alina REH 15:13.92
11 MEX Laura GALVÁN 15:15.92
12 POR Mariana MACHADO 15:18.09 PB
13 UGA Esther CHEBET 15:26.40
14 ISR Selamawit TEFERI 15:44.30 SB
15 AUS Rose DAVIES 15:45.95
16 VEN Joselyn Daniely BREA 15:46.75 SB
17 IND Parul CHAUDHARY 15:54.03
18 GER Sara BENFARES 16:34.23
19 CAN Gracelyn LARKIN 16:48.78
