PURRIER MAKES WORLD FINALS BY 3 SECONDS
By Josh Kaufmann
County Courier
DOHA, Qatar — A bold run and a slow second heat put Montgomery’s Elle Purrier into the finals of the 5,000 meters in the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships on Wednesday.
Purrier will join 14 other elite runners in the 5K championship race, Saturday at 2:25 p.m. (NBC Sports Network).
She finished ninth in the first of two heats after running with the leaders for much of the race, leaving her in the mix for one of five spots in the final available in addition to the automatic spots going to the top five in each heat.
A slow second heat grew more promising as one of seven in the lead group faded with two laps remaining, and when Anna Emilie Moller crossed seventh in 15:11.76, Purrier was in.
Purrier earned the berth with a 15:08.82, her second fastest career 5,000 by just 2-tenths of a second (15:08.61, June 13).
From an inside starting slot, the former Richford Rocket launched off the line and ran second, just behind Great Britain’s Eilish McColgan, for the first few laps. Purrier settled into sixth place for the first 3K, but eventually — and to no one’s surprise — world No. 1 Hellen Obiri cruised to the front and went on to win.
Crossing in 14:52.13, Obiri left 30 seconds in the tank for the finals compared to her personal best of 14:18.37. That mark is just over 7 seconds off the world record, 14:11.15 set Oct. 1, 1985, by Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia.
More surprising was the second-place effort by the first heat’s other American. Karissa Schweizer followed Obiri’s charge into the lead. With the Kenyan running a more-mortal pace in the qualifier, Schweizer followed her to the line in 14:52.41, a career-best by more than 9 stunning seconds (15:01.63, July 9).
Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia, McColgan, and Camille Buscomb of New Zealand joined Obiri and Schweizer advancing to Saturday’s final. Tsehay Gemechu of Ethiopia, Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany, Margaret Chelimo Kipkembo and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk of Kenya, and Laura Weightman of Great Britain were the automatic qualifiers from the second heat, but beyond them, only Fantu Worku of Ethiopia beat Purrier’s time.
The 5,000-meter final is Saturday at 2:25 p.m. (ET), the final event of the day at the IAAF World Championships. A watch party is planned for Saturday at the Richford High School Gymnasium, which is open to the public.
IAAF World Championships
Doha, Qatar
Women’s 5,000 meters
First Heat
1 Hellen Obiri Kenya 14:52.13 Q
2 Karissa Schweizer United States 14:52.41 Q
3 Hawi Feysa Ethiopia 14:53.85 Q
4 Eilish McColgan Britain 14:55.79 Q
5 Camille Buscomb New Zealand 15:02.19 Q
6 Nozomi Tanaka Japan 15:04.66 q
7 Andrea Seccafien Canada 15:04.67 q
8 Dominique Scott South Africa 15:05.01 q
9 Elle Purrier United States 15:08.82 q
10 Sarah Chelangat Uganda 15:19.90
11 Hanna Klein Germany 15:28.65
12 Florencia Borelli Argentina 15:56.49
13 Cavaline Nahimana Burundi 16:25.82
14 Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal Norway DNF
15 Maureen Koster Netherlands DNF
Second Heat
1 Tsehay Gemechu Ethiopia 15:01.57 Q
2 Konstanze Klosterhalfen Germany 15:01.57 Q
3 Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi Kenya 15:01.58 Q
4 Lilian Kasait Rengeruk Kenya 15:02.03 Q
5 Laura Weightman Great Britain 15:02.24 Q
6 Fantu Worku Ethiopia 15:02.74 q
7 Anna Emilie Møller Denmark 15:11.76
8 Rachel Schneider United States 15:30.00
9 Melissa Duncan Australia 15:37.37
10 Rachel Cliff Canada 15:41.27
11 Jessica Judd Great Britain 15:51.48
12 Valeriya Zhandarova Georgia 15:52.11
13 Tomoka Kimura Japan 15:53.08
Tigist Gashaw Bahrain DNF
Combined
1 Hellen Obiri Kenya 14:52.13 Q
2 Karissa Schweizer United States 14:52.41 Q
3 Hawi Feysa Ethiopia 14:53.85 Q
4 Eilish McColgan Britain 14:55.79 Q
5 Tsehay Gemechu Ethiopia 15:01.57 Q
5 Konstanze Klosterhalfen Germany 15:01.57 Q
7 MargaretxChelimo Kipkemboi Kenya 15:01.58 Q
8 LilianxKasait Rengeruk Kenya 15:02.03 Q
9 Camille Buscomb New Zealand 15:02.19 Q
10 Laura Weightman Great Britain 15:02.24 Q
11 Fantu Worku Ethiopia 15:02.74 q
12 Nozomi Tanaka Japan 15:04.66 q
13 Andrea Seccafien Canada 15:04.67 q
14 Dominique Scott South Africa 15:05.01 q
15 Elle Purrier United States 15:08.82 q
16 AnnaxEmilie Møller Denmark 15:11.76
17 Sarah Chelangat Uganda 15:19.90
18 Hanna Klein Germany 15:28.65
19 Rachel Schneider United States 15:30.00
20 Melissa Duncan Australia 15:37.37
21 Rachel Cliff Canada 15:41.27
22 Jessica Judd Great Britain 15:51.48
23 Valeriya Zhandarova Georgia 15:52.11
24 Tomoka Kimura Japan 15:53.08
25 Florencia Borelli Argentina 15:56.49
26 Cavaline Nahimana Burundi 16:25.82
