Ahmed smashes record; Barber second at Eugene Diamond League
Mohammed Ahmed impressed with a bold Canadian record setting 5,000m performance, while Shawn Barber finished second at the IAAF Diamond League event in Eugene on Saturday.
Ahmed continued his 5,000 metre success, breaking his Canadian record of 13 minutes and 10 seconds from last summer. Shocking the field with a gutsy move on the final lap, the Canadian sprinted into first and held onto the lead into the final 200m, before finishing third with a time of 13:01.74s. Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor finished second in 12:59.98s, behind Ethopia’s Muktar Edris, who won with a new world leading time of 12:59.96s.
Related: Ahmed breaks Canadian 5,000m record
Barber, the defending world champion, finished second in men’s pole vault. Both Barber and the winner Renaud Lavillenie finished with a height of 5.81m, however clearing the height on his first attempt secured the victory for the Frenchman. Poland’s Pawel Wokciechowski claimed third with a jump of 5.71m.
Related: Barber joins six meter club
This was the Canadian’s best performance at a Diamond League event this season. Barber finished third at last stop in Shanghai with a height of 5.70m, behind Lavillenie (5.83m) and Sam Kendricks (5.88) of the United States.
Genevieve Lalonde, also set a national record in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase finishing 10th with a time of 9:32.17s.
Next up, Canadians will head to Rome, Italy for the fifth stop on the circuit.
