Melissa Bishop crept up to fifth spot but couldn’t mount a challenge against a strong field in finishing eighth in the women’s 800 metres at Thursday’s Weltklasse Diamond League track and field meet in Zürich.
Bishop’s time of one minute 58.84 seconds is her slowest performance of late and nearly two seconds off the 28-year-old’s Canadian record time of 1:57.02, set at the recent Rio Olympics.
After missing an Olympic bronze medal by 13-100ths of a second, the native of Eganville, Ont., ran 1:58.71 for another fourth-place finish at last week’s Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Thursday’s race was a repeat of the Olympic final with a 1-2-3 finish of South Africa’s Caster Semenya, Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba and Kenya’s Margaret Wambui.
Semenya clocked 1:56.44, a little more than a second off her gold-medal time of 1:55.28 in Rio, which is exactly two seconds behind the 33-year-old world mark.
“I was not ready for the world record this year,” Semenya said. “I am a bit tired. After Rio I had to go home and travel again to Europe.”
Semenya earned 60 points for her effort to win the Diamond League Trophy with a 12-point victory over Niyonsaba. Semenya and Niyonsaba were separated by only two points entering Thursday.
Men’s 5,000
Canada’s Mo Ahmed failed to threaten the 13-minute barrier or a podium finish in the men’s 5,000 metres, despite ideal conditions in Zürich.
Sitting 15th in a field of 19 runners after 3,200 metres, the Canadian record holder made his move and climbed to 10th by 4,000m and ninth entering the final lap before crossing the line eighth in 13:20.31.
Twelve days ago, Ahmed “fell apart” in the last 120m of the Olympic final and crossed the line fifth in 13:05.94 at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The St. Catharines, Ont., native was later awarded fourth after the disqualification of Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris, who was 10th on Thursday.
In May, Ahmed stopped the clock in 13:01.74 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon to shatter his Canadian mark of 13:10.00, set in Brussels last year that broke a 17-year-old record.
American Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo, who won silver in Brazil after a fierce battle with Ahmed down the stretch, repeated the feat in Zurich in a time of 13:61.51.
Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia won Thursday’s race in 13:14.82 after capturing Olympic bronze. Evan Jager of the United States rounded out the top three, clocking 13:16.86.
Women’s 100 hurdles
Phylicia George of Markham, Ont., failed to make it back-to-back victories as she crossed the line seventh of nine hurdlers.
She stopped the clock in 12.93 seconds after winning at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Poland on Sunday in 12.88, which matched George’s winning time at the Canadian Olympic trials in July.
Barber scratched
Toronto pole vaulter Shawn Barber was expected to be in action Thursday with an eye on improving upon disappointing results at the Rio Olympics and last week’s Diamond League meets in Switzerland and Paris.
But he was feeling fatigued from a long season and chose not to compete, according to Athletics Canada.
Sam Hendricks of the United States, who won last week’s event in Lausanne, cleared 5.90 to edge Renaud Lavillenie of France.
Women’s 200
Olympic champion Elaine Thompson ran the second fastest time in the world this year to edge great rival Dafne Schippers.
Thompson led only in the final five metres to clock 21.85 seconds, .07 outside the new Jamaican star’s recent gold medal-winning time in Rio de Janeiro.
Schippers of the Netherlands was .01 back in her season-best of 21.86 after tying up in the final strides when Thompson surged. The 2015 world champion took Olympic silver in 21.88. Allyson Felix of the United States was third in her season-best time of 22.02.
Winning feeling continues
Olympic champions winning included Americans Kerron Clement in the men’s 400 hurdles and Christian Taylor in the triple jump. Gold medallists Ruth Beitia of Spain, in women’s high jump, and Sandra Perkovic of Croatia, in women’s discus, also were victorious.
Diamond League on CBC Sports
CBC Sports is provided live streaming coverage of all 14 Diamond League meets this season at CBCSports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. TV coverage will be featured as part of the network’s Road To The Olympic Games weekend broadcasts throughout the season.
The following is a list of upcoming Diamond League meets on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app:
Brussels (Sept. 9, 2 p.m. ET)
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