The second of two days of competition at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games in London wrapped up on Saturday highlighted by fantastic battles in the women’s 5,000m, men’s 800m, and men’s mile. Perhaps no race was more bizarre than the Emsley Carr mile, which saw Kenyan Asbel Kiprop go from first to last then back to first all within the final two laps.

Asbel Kiprop Recovers From Stumble To Win Bizarre London Mile

After running the third-fastest 1500m of all-time last week in Monaco (3:26.69), Asbel Kiprop won as expected today in London in 3:54.87, but it was not without drama as he was forced to recover from a stumble just short of 800 meters in.

 

The two-time World champion was up front from the onset, leading the field behind the pacer through the opening 400m in around 57-58 seconds. It was clear from the beginning that the pace was not going to be incredibly fast, but it looked like Kiprop was at least set on dictating the tempo.

 

However, as the pack neared two laps to go, Kiprop appeared to slow and then stumbled as American Ben Blankenship went past him, then going to the back as the race reached halfway. It looked like Kiprop was injured as he struggled to keep pace with the field, remaining at the back as the leaders passed 1,000m in a slow 2:30. 

 

An already weird race became even more odd as suddenly Kiprop swung to the outside lane with 500 meters to go and started moving up as the race neared the final lap. The field hit 400m to go at 2:58, and Kiprop was now charging hard, clearly recovered from his stumble a lap earlier. With 350m to go, Kiprop moved onto the shoulder of Matt Centrowitz, sitting in fourth place behind Centro, Chris O'Hare, and Ayanleh Souleiman. Blankenship made a hard move to challenge Kiprop on the outside, and actually went past the Kenyan with less than 200m to go. 

Blankenship's move appeared to prompt Kiprop to throw it into his next gear. The Kenyan showed no sign of injury as he sprinted away from the field in the final 100m, celebrating before the line as he completed what is undoubtably one of the strangest races you will ever see. 

 

Centrowitz, so strong in these type of tactical battles, wound up second in 3:55.03, a good sign for his medal chances heading into the World Championships next month. Centro had to fight out of traffic in the last stretch, but still managed to put together a solid race that will certainly boost his confidence. 

 

Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman was unable to hold off Centowitz in the final 50 meters, settling for third in 3:55.06.
 

It was another tight battle between Nijel Amos and David Rudisha in the men’s 800m, with the 21-year-old Amos of Botswana once again coming away victorious over the World record holder today in London. 

Nijel Amos sprints past David Rudisha in the final straightaway

Amos powered past Rudisha in the final 100m, the same way he won the last time the pair raced each other in Lausanne on July 9th. The time wasn’t fast, 1:44.57, but for Amos it’s another confidence-building win over his main challenger for gold next month in Beijing. 

 

Rudisha, who set the 1:40.91 World record on this same track three years ago, was second today in 1:44.67. Poland’s Adam Kszczot was third in 1:44.85.

 

It was a rough day for the American trio of Erik Sowinski, Boris Berian, and Cas Loxsom, who occupied the last three places in 8th, 9th, and 10th, respectively. 

 

Berian led the race for about the first 680m, running a very valiant effort, but struggled mightily in the last stretch, finishing in 1:46.13. 

American record holder Molly Huddle ran a very brave race in the women’s 5,000m, leading for 4,800m before Kenyan Mercy Cherono caught and passed her at the very end. Cherono would win in 14:54.81, but the race was entirely made by Huddle, who ultimately came up just short in finishing second in 14:57.42.

 

Huddle was the only woman willing to follow pacer Gabe Grunewald from the gun, and the American built a 30m lead at 1K, crossing the split in 2:59.

 

Huddle’s advantage on the field kept growing as she clicked off another 2:59 K to hit 2,000m in 5:58. Cherono led the chase pack that sat 40m behind the leader. 

 

Huddle slowed ever-so-slightly in the 3rd kilometer, splitting 3:04 to cross in 9:02. Still though, the lead remained and it looked like the American could steal a win from Cherono, who ran 14:34 just three weeks back in Paris. 

 

However, the gap between Huddle and Cherono started to dwindle with 800m to go, and as another lap passed, the margin between the two had all but evaporated. 

 

Huddle wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and Cherono had to sprint hard to get past the American over the final 200m. The Kenyan would prove too strong in the final straight, breaking Huddle in the last 100m. Despite the loss, Huddle showed that she is fearless and not afraid to challenge anyone in the world.

WHAT A BEAST. @MollyHuddle led the entire 5K at #LondonDL #AnniversaryGames, but just missed out on the win pic.twitter.com/BwCuik21fw

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 25, 2015