Justin Gatlin Runs 9.74, Mo Farah Beaten In Doha

Justin Gatlin Runs 9.74, Mo Farah Beaten In Doha

May 15, 2015 by Lincoln Shryack
Justin Gatlin Runs 9.74, Mo Farah Beaten In Doha


Hagos Gebrhiwet beats Mo Farah in the 3,000m in Doha

FULL RESULTS

World-leads and several top ten all-time performances made for an exciting Diamond League opener in Doha on Friday, which ended surprisingly with Mo Farah taking a rare loss in the 3,000m. 
 
Americans Justin Gatlin, Jasmin Stowers, Allyson Felix, and Francena McCorory each grabbed victories in the Qatari capital, with Gatlin, Stowers and Felix each dropping World leads in the process. Perhaps none were more impressive than 100m hurdle up-and-comer Jasmin Stowers, who ran a Diamond League record of 12.35 to take down a loaded field that included Olympic champions Sally Pearson and Dawn Harper-Nelson. That time puts Stowers, who finished second at NCAAs in 2014, as the seventh fastest in the 100m hurdles all-time. Ironically, last year’s NCAA champion, Sharika Nelvis, was second in a PB of 12.54 tonight in Doha. 
 
Suddenly, Jasmin Stowers has gone from relatively unknown (she never won an NCAA title at LSU), to a favorite in arguably the deepest event at the USATF Championships. Props to Jasmin. 

Justin Gatlin Runs #5 All-Time 9.74

Twice convicted of doping, Justin Gatlin continues to stir controversy as he improved his #5 all-time mark at the age of 33, tonight running 9.74 to demolish a field that included Michael Rodgers and Nesta Carter. Even with the dark cloud around his name, his 9.74 Diamond League opener shows that he is the favorite for August’s World Championships in Beijing. Usain Bolt watch out. 

Justin Gatlin
 

Allyson Felix Cruises To 200m World Lead

Allyson Felix looked smooth throughout in the women’s 200m, easily gliding away from the field to win in world-leading fashion, 21.98. Felix did not break 22 seconds all of 2014, but tonight she does it in her 200m opener. Big things are coming for the 4-time Olympic champion later this summer in Beijing. 


 

McCorory Takes Down Sanya

Francena McCorory did not run a World-lead in Doha, but more importantly she notched another victory over Sanya Richards-Ross in the women’s 400m, winning in a somewhat disappointing time of 50.21. McCorory beat SRR handily at last month's Drake Relays, only to lose last weekend in Jamaica to the Olympic champion in a blowout, 49.95 to 50.73. The 2014 World indoor champion righted the ship on Friday, however, as Richards-Ross looked flat in finishing second in 50.79. 

Francena Mccorory and Sanya Richards Ross
 

Pichardo, Taylor Both Leap Over 18 Meters in Triple Jump

Over in the triple jump, 21-year-old Cuban Pedro Pablo Pichardo had a huge leap of 18.06m, 3rd best all-time. Olympic champion and former Florida Gator Christian Taylor also had an outstanding day, himself leaping 18.04m to rank #5 all-time. Friday was the first time over 18m for both Pichardo and Taylor.
 

Mo Farah Takes A Loss To Hagos Gebrhiwet

The biggest distance race of the meet closed out the evening, with World/Olympic champion Mo Farah surprisingly going down to Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet in the men’s 3,000m. The race was much slower than expected, and it appeared that Farah guessed wrong on his tactics to wait until the final 300m to move. The 21-year-old Gebrhiwet, the silver medalist in the 5,000m at the 2013 World Championships, was able to hold off Farah in the last straight, winning in 7:38.08. Farah had to settle for second in 7:38.22.

It should be noted that this was Farah's first poor performance in 2015. The 32-year-old set the indoor 2-mile World record in February (8:03.40) and then set the British and European Half marathon record in winning the Lisbon Half in 59:32 on March 22nd. An off day for Mo Farah is still much better than a good day for everyone else. 

The Diamond League travels to Shanghai on Sunday for the second stop on the tour. Make sure to check back with FloTrack for reactions from that meet.