Genzebe Dibaba & Faith Kipyegon Battle for Women’s 1500m Olympic Title

Genzebe Dibaba will go into her 1500m race at the Rio Olympics with so much to prove, not to display her capability to win which is not in doubt, but to show that she can still deliver when the pressure is on her.

In a year that has seen her plagued by injuries and some inconsistencies, Dibaba was listed by the Ethiopia Federation to take part in just the 1500m, and was not named for the 5000m.

In fact in one of the 5000m races she competed in this year in Barcelona, she had to withdraw and Did Not Finish (DNF) from the race, which possibly was a factor in her not doubling in Rio.

This time last year, Genzebe Dibaba’s was on everybody’s lips. Of course it had every reason to be when at the Monaco Diamond League she stormed to an astonishing World Record (WR) of 3.50.07 in the 1500m.

While Dibaba was in dominant mode last year, there was another athlete lurking around, Kenya’s Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon who came into reckoning during the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

Then, Dibaba won GOLD in 4:08.09, but she was closely followed by Kipyegon who won Silver clocking 4:08.96. It wasn’t a big lead from Dibaba as many would have anticipated, probably because she had the 5000m race in mind and did want to burn out.

While Dibaba is struggling to reignite her 2015 form, Kipyegon on the other hand seems to have come of age and has been setting the tracks she has competed in alight. The Kenyan is undefeated this year.

Such is Kipyegon’s dominance in 2016 that she ran a Kenyan National Record (NR) of 3:56.41 to win at the Eugene Diamond League. In fact she holds three of the 10 fastest times in the world this year, all under 4mins.

When both athletes go head to head in Rio, it will be a case of class vs form with Dibaba having the former and her Kenyan counterpart settling for the latter.

So who is the favourite to win GOLD in Rio? On paper Kipyegon looks the best bet to win, however with Dibaba going to run in just the 1500m which will be her only event in Rio, it’s hard betting against the WR holder.