Posted: January 28, 2006

Athletics: Tirunesh Dibaba Runs #2 Indoor Time 5000M Time

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

BOSTON (28-Jan) -- Last year's double world champion at 5000m and 10,000m, Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, ran the second-fastest ever 5000m indoors here at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games: 14:35.46.

Dibaba, 20, who already owns the world record of 14:32.93 set here last year, was joined in the early going by pacemaker Mardrea Hyman of Jamaica and her sister, Ejegayehu. When Hyman passed 2000m in 5:53.32, she pulled off the track leaving the two Ethiopians to carry the pace alone.

With about 10 and one-half of the 25 laps remaining, Tirunesh left her sister to run alone for the record. She reached 4000m in 11:46.51, the record still just within reach. But the pace sagged for two laps, and the final sprint wasn't enough to make up the lost time. She turned the pentultimate lap in 34-flat and the final lap in 30.2, falling 2.53 seconds short of the record.

Ejegayehu, the older of the two sisters, finished second in 15:18.97 and Sara Slattery of the United States was third in 15:37.68, an indoor personal best.

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