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On Monday, Hellen Obiri won the Kenyan Defence Forces Athletics Championships (KDF) 5000m race at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya. She won in the time of 15:22.64.
Finishing second was Joyce Chepkemoi in the time of 15:23.56, while Sheila Chepkirui, took third place in 15:28.01.
Obiri, who is also the KDF cross-country champion, took the lead after three laps and never relinquished it.
She owns the national record at 14:18.37 from the Rome Diamond League meet in 2017. In May, she ran the fastest all-time debut half-marathon with a 1:04:51 performance in Istanbul. The 30-year-old earned a silver medal during the 2016 Rio Olympic 5000m, clocking a 14:29.77. She is a 16-time Diamond League winner over distances of 1500m, one mile, 3000m, and 5000m.
The Olympic standard is 15:10.00. Obiri has already qualified for the Olympic Games starting July 23. She has run as fast as 14:22.12 in 2020 during the Monaco Diamond League meet.
Letesenbet Gidey broke the world record in July 2020 in Valencia. She finished in the time of 14:06.62. Obiri is the eighth-fastest 5000m runner all-time, with the ninth-fastest performance in history.
Other 5000m news
Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan won the Sound Running 5000m race in LA on Saturday with a strong 14:35.34 performance. Americans Jossette Norris finished second in 14:51.42, while Rachel Schneider took third in 15:52.04. Five women ran under 15-minutes, while nine ran under the Olympic standard. Canada’s Kate Van Buskirk ran a new personal best for fifth place clocking a 14:59.80. She finished six seconds back of Emily Sisson who also set a pb with her 14:53.84. Of the top-five, winner Hassan was the only athlete to not achieve a new personal best. She has run as fast as 14:22.12.
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In the men’s race, Canadian record holder, Mo Ahmed, won with his 13:18.49 performance. The finish time is fast, however, he clocked a world-class 12:47.20 one year ago in Portland. British runner Andrew Butchart took second in the time of 13:20.39. New Zealand’s Eric Speakman took third with a new personal best time of 13:22.08.
Full results from the Sound Running track meet are available here>>
