By Nate Mann
PALO ALTO, Calif. – During two days in September 1993, six Chinese women ran under 8 minutes, 20 seconds in the 3,000-meter race.
Until Sunday, no one had done so since.
Twenty-six years later, Sifan Hassan joined that exclusive group of runners. She won the 2019 Prefontaine Classic in a time of 8:18.49, the sixth-fastest time in history and fastest by a non-Chinese woman. Her Nike Oregon Project training partner, Konstanze Klosterhalfen, finished second, 1.58 seconds behind at 8:20.07.
The fast competition resulted in eight of the 18 women competing posting a personal best.
Along with a top-six ranking all-time, Hassan’s time broke the facility record at Stanford’s Cobb Field and Angell Stadium, the Prefontaine meet record and the Diamond League record.
The facility record of 8:54.82 had been held by Kara Goucher for 19 years, and the Pre Classic meet record had stood since Genzebe Dibaba’s 8:33.33 in 2015. Hellen Obiri set the Diamond League record in 2014 with a time of 8:20.68.
Hassan’s record-breaking time surprised even her.
“I’m very happy. It’s beautiful,” said Hassan.
Several factors pointed against her to her running such a fast time. Before the competition, she felt hot under the California sun and “didn’t feel good” prior to lining up on the track.
Additionally, Hassan didn’t execute the strategy she initially planned with her coach, who told her to stay with the group and make a move early.
She did stay with the pack for a majority of the race – always trailing the leader by fewer than two seconds through the first 2,600 meters – but made her move at the very end. Behind by 1.14 seconds at the bell, Hassan ran the final 400 in 63.38 seconds, the fastest final lap of any competitor.
She narrowly beat out training partner Klosterhalfen, who also ran a quick final 400 to place second with a time of 8:20.07. The two will head to Europe for more training and races next.
Dibaba, another of Hassan’s regular competitors, finished fourth in 8:21.29. The two had recently raced a 1,500 in Rabat, Morocco, in which Dibaba edged out Hassan by 0.46 seconds.
The rivalry goes all the way back to a 3,000-meter race in 2014, when Hassan placed second and Dibaba third by a difference of 0.03 seconds in Brussels.
“I mean, she always does her best. She ran good,” said Hassan. “This time I was just a little bit better.”
Despite a fourth-place result, Dibaba improved her time once again this season. She ran a personal best 8:26.20 in the 3,000 at Doha in early May–her only race at that distance prior to the Pre Classic–but beat that time by nearly five seconds on Sunday.
