Olympic 1,500m champion Nancy Jebet Lagat might have stumbled in Lausanne in July but there was no repeat of the same mistake in Stockholm as she rebounded to take a third win in the IAAF Diamond League series in her quest for a share of the jackpot.
With only three rounds in London, Zurich and Brussels of the series left, Lagat won 00.7 seconds ahead of Anna Alminova, the Russian champion who won in Paris, and Bahrain’s Mimi Belete, who clocked 4:01.53 and 4:01.64, respectively.
In a slow race, pacemaker Tamara Tverdostup passed through 400m and 800m in 1:04.36 and 2:10.55. .
Alminova edged to the front just after the bell and tried to break away with 300m left. However, Lagat quickly countered the move, and went for it with half a lap to go with no response from the struggling Alminova.
World silver medallist Yuliya Zarudneva ran a perfect 3000m steeplechase to finally end Kenyan dominance winning in 9:17.59 clear of Milcah Chemos and Lydia Rotich 9:21.25. Chemos (9:19.32) added more Diamond Race points, and is in an almost unassailable overall lead.
Paul Kipsiele Koech failed in his bid to break his own 7:59.42 stadium record at Stockholm in the men steeplechase and take home the prize a one carat diamond.
He gave the mark an admirable chase, going solo for much of the proceedings but coming up just a bit shy when his pace waned over the last two laps.
The 28-year-old nonetheless won his first race since the New York.
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