Jamaican sprint sensation Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce kicked off the 2014 Diamond League season with a comfortable victory in the women’s 100m in Doha on Friday.
But there was disappointment for Ethiopian star Genzebe Dibaba who struggled home in sixth place in the 3000m, with Kenya’s Hellen Obiri taking victory in a time of 8min 20.68sec, the fifth-fastest in history and a new African record.
Dibaba, who broke the world indoor 1500m and 3000m records this year before taking the world indoor 3000m title in Sopot, was passed by Obiri and Mercy Cherono on the final lap and finished almost six seconds behind.
“I don’t know what went wrong. I didn’t feel good from the beginning of the race,” said Dibaba.
After skipping a couple of meets, including the Penn Relays, on medical advice, Fraser-Pryce bounced back to win the 200m at the Kingston Invitational last week and she showed no signs of struggling in the Qatari capital.
After a great start, the “Pocket Rocket”, the reigning two-time Olympic sprint champion who also claimed world 100m gold in Moscow last year and world indoor 60m gold in Sopot in March, pulled immediately away from Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare.
The Jamaican crossed the line in 11.13 seconds, an eye fixed on the big screen as Okagbare made a late surge for the line to finish second in 11.18sec.
“It was a good race, the crowd definitely is a plus, very diverse, energetic and supportive,” said Fraser-Pryce.
