Tirunesh Dibaba To Race 2-Mile In Boston
She hopes to set a new world record for that distance.
She hopes to set a new world record for that distance.
(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Organizers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 2, in Boston, announced yesterday that international medalists Matthew Centrowitz and Tirunesh Dibaba had been added to their meeting line-up. The 18th annual meet is the first of three stops on USA Track & Field’s 2013 Championship Series and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Centrowitz, 23, the former NCAA champion for the University of Oregon, will run the mile in Boston in what will be his third indoor competition of the year. He opened with a rust-buster 800-meter race at the University of Washington last Saturday (1:51.60), and will next go to Britain for the British Athletics International Match in Glasgow on Jan. 26.
“Excited for my next two races,” Centrowitz pronounced on his Twitter feed yesterday. “First up Glasgow, Scotland, to represent the U.S and then the MILE at #NBIndoorGP the following weekend in Boston!”
At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Korea, Centrowitz exploded onto the international scene when he kicked home to a bronze medal at 1500-meters after winning both the NCAA and U.S. open titles at the same distance earlier that year. Centrowitz clocked 51.6 seconds for the final 400 meters in that race, making him one of the fastest closers in all of middle distance running. He ran the 3,000m at the Boston meeting in 2012, finishing seventh in an indoor personal best 7:46.19.
Dibaba, 27, one of the most decorated distance runners in history with three Olympic gold medals and eight individual world titles, will run the two-mile in Boston. The world record holder at 5000-meters won the two-mile contest in Boston last year in 9:21.60. Her other victories at the meet include the 5000m in 2005, ’06, ’07 and ’10, the 3000m in 2008.
“I’m looking forward to launching my 2013 season in one of my favorite cities,” said Dibaba through a statement provided by meet organizers.