Paul Chelimo (US Army) kicked off the weekend with a runner-up finish at the IAAF Diamond League Doha 3,000-meters in Qatar with the 4th-fastest outdoor 3k mark ever by an American with his 7:31.57. The Rio Olympic 5,000-meter silver medalist will open up with his main distance of 5k at the IAAF Diamond League Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, OR, on May 27th.
Paul Chelimo (on left in USA) battles to line at the Doka 3k
Back in the USA, Michael Jordan (ADP) also ran to a runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Windy cold conditions slowed the performances as Jordan was unable to improve on his current #2 US ranked mark of 8:33.31. While the windy conditions did not improve into the evening, Elvin Kibet (Skechers) was still able to improve upon her 10,000-meter best posting a 32:22.51 for 14th-place. Kibet’s husband, US Olympian Shadrack Kipchirchir (US Army), also lowered his personal best at the 10,000-meter distance finishing third with a US leading and IAAF World Championships qualifying time of 27:32.18. Teammate Biya Simbassa (ADP) finished 5th in the same race with a significant personal best of 27:45.78, missing the world qualifying standard by less than a second. Stanley Kebenei (Nike) also set a massive personal best dipping under the 28-minute mark with a 27:58.56 for 8th-place in the 35-man field. Joe Gray (Merrell) rounded out the evening of competition with his 28:44.80. Lastly, but not leastly, Sam Chelanga (Nike) participated in his employer’s grand quest to stage history’s first sub 2-hour marathon. Chelanga contributed with pacing duties in the historic event in Monza, Italy, which missed the 2-hour mark, yet still produced the fastest marathon in history as Eluid Kipchoge finished in 2-hours and 25-seconds.