Week in Review: Two stars make a mark
Kipyegon and Norman post standout performances at Prefontaine Classic
Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and Michael Norman of the U.S., two athletes at different stages of their careers, turned in a pair of scintillating performances in the Prefontaine Classic at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field on Saturday afternoon.
The 28-year-old Kipyegon won the women’s 1,500 meters in 3 minutes 52.59 seconds, the ninth-fastest time in history, the second-fastest performance of her career, and the best ever run in the U.S.
Norman, 24, won the men’s 400 in 43.60 seconds, the 13th fastest time in history and the second fastest of his career.
While Kipyegon’s performance provided more evidence that she is the greatest women’s 1,500-meter runner of all time, Norman’s left a lot of track and field fans wondering how good he can be if he learns how to produce his best efforts in the World Championships and Olympic Games.
Running fast and performing well in the biggest global meets has been a hallmark of Kipyegon’s career as she is the two-time defending Olympic champion in the 1,500, and has won a gold medal, as well as two silver medals, in the World Championships.
Although the women’s 1,500 on Saturday included nine of the 13 finalists from the Olympic Games, the battle for first quickly turned into a two-runner duel between World indoor champion Guday Tsegay of Ethiopia and Kipyegon.
When Tesgay led the field through the first lap in 60.77 seconds, she and Kipyegon were 15 meters ahead of their closest pursuers and that lead grew as the race continued.
Tsegay continued to push the pace through 800 meters in 2:03.88 (63.11) and 1,200 in 3:07.74 (63.86), but there was no shaking Kipyegon, who surged into the lead midway down the backstretch with 250 meters left in the race.
Kipyegon led Tsegay by a couple of strides midway through the final curve, but she more than doubled her advantage in the final 150 meters of a race in which she recorded the fifth sub-3:54 clocking of her career – two more than anyone else – and posted the fastest time ever run before the month of July.
Tsegay finished second in 3:54.21 to move to 12th on the all-time world performer list and to third on the all-time African list. Gabriela DeBues-Stafford of Canada placed third in 3:58.62.
“I’m so happy. I was not expecting this,” Kipyegon told Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports in a post-race interview.
While Tsegay ended up acting as a pacesetter for Kipyegon in the women’s 1,500 meters, Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago did the same for his eight fellow competitors in the men’s 400.
The World indoor champion had a clear lead after blasting the first 160 meters of the race, but Norman and three-time Olympic medalist Kirani James of Grenada began to close on him early in the second turn. Norman visibly shifted gears with about 140 meters to go and led James by half a stride as they swept into the home straightaway.
His lead grew to more than two strides at the finish line as his 43.60 clocking bested the meet record of 43.92 set by two-time Olympic 400 champion Michael Johnson in 2000.
James placed second in 44.02 and Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain finished third in a national record of 44.35.
In a post-race interview with Johnson of NBC Sports, Norman said that his coach, 1992 Olympic 400 champion Quincy Watts, had “spent the past couple of weeks really beating this race pattern into my head.”
He added, “He just told me, ‘The race starts at the full 200, and when you can see your mark, Go’!”
The question that remains is will Norman – assuming he makes the U.S. national team – be able to produce a similar performance when the World Championships are held at Hayward Field from July 15-24?
It is a valid question because Norman finished a disappointing fifth in 44.31 in the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer, and he was eliminated in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, after running a personal best of 43.45 to win the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in April of that year.
One person, in commenting on an Instagram post by Norman after Saturday’s race, wrote: “Now, let’s see if he can finally sustain this fire and replicate it when it counts.”
Here’s hoping he can.
The best of the rest: In addition to Kipyegon and Norman, nine other athletes turned in yearly world-leading marks in the Prefontaine meet.