Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sarah Jamieson continued her excellent form in Europe, finishing third in the 1500m...
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sarah Jamieson continued her excellent form in Europe, finishing third in the 1500m in her second fastest time ever, at the IAAF World Tour meeting in Monaco overnight.
World leader Yuliya Chizhenko of Russia was victorious in 4:00.32, with dual 1500m world champion and recently crowned European champion Tatyana Tomashova, also of Russia, second in 4:01.21, with the Australian third in 4:01.63.
Experimenting with different tactics in Monaco, Jamieson was the only athlete to follow the pacemaker and carried a big lead past the bell (1200m split 3:13.58), she eventually ran out of steam over the next 300 metres as she was reeled in by the chase pack, first by Chizhenko on the turn, and then by the two-time world champion in the home straight.
Jamieson was able to hold off Yelena Soboleva to prevent a Russian sweep.
Jamieson, 31, broke the decade old Australian 1500m record in Stockholm last month when she stopped the clock at 4:00.93, the second time this season she has lowered her personal best.
Last night’s run continues to confirm her elevation to the absolute elite in world middle distance running for the duel Olympian.
Jamieson is currently ranked fifth on the IAAF world rankings and is third on the World Tour rankings this season.
In other Australian results, Tatiana Grigorieva continued her good form, clearing 4.51m on her third attempt to finish 5th behind Brazil’s Fabiana Murer who cleared 4.61m. The leap equals Grigorieva’s season best of 4.51m set in Paris and is just 5cm off her 2001 personal best.
Steeplechaser Victoria Mitchell moved to second on the IAAF World Tour rankings, securing a spot in the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart next month, finishing 6th in the steeplechase in 9:31.80, just outside her personal best of 9:30.84 set in Athens in July.
After a personal best over 1500m in Zurich on Friday, Craig Mottram finished 15th in the 3000m in 7:47.88 and Commonwealth Games finalist Mark Fountain finished 10th in the 1500m in 3:36.50.
Athletics Australia
