Mile News


Shannon Rowbury breaks Slaney’s 32-year-old American record in the 1500m

July 17, 2015

Genzebe Dibaba runs a World Record time of 3:50.07; Rowbury takes third, clocking 3:56.29.

From USA Track & Field

Olympian Shannon Rowbury (Portland, OR) etched her name in the history books Friday, breaking Mary Decker Slaney's long-standing American record in the Herculis Monaco meeting women's 1500 meters in 3:56.29, pending ratification.

Aided by a tremendous rabbiting effort by Chanelle Price, every athlete in Friday's Diamond League race set a best of some kind, whether it was a season's best, personal record or in the case of Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba, a stunning world record.

Price (Easton, PA) perfectly paced Dibaba, European champion Sifan Hassan, Rowbury and the rest of the field with an opening lap of 1:00.31, and paced the lead pack through 800 meters in 2:04.52 before leaving it to Dibaba for the final two laps.

Rowbury and compatriot Jenny Simpson pushed each other throughout the race, but as Dibaba charged towards the line for the world record in 3:50.07, it was Rowbury who emerged as the top American. The two-time 2015 USA Indoor champion stormed to the finish to come away with a third-place performance of 3:56.29. Simpson (Boulder, CO) crossed fourth in a season's best 3:57.30.

Rowbury broke Decker's previous American record of 3:57.12, set in Stockholm, Sweden prior to her two gold medals at the 1983 World Championships, dubbed as the "Double Decker". Rowbury now owns two U.S. records outdoors, setting the 2-Mile U.S. record at the 2014 Nike Prefontaine Classic.

For full results from the Diamond League meeting in Monaco, go to: IAAF.org

Tags: shannon rowbury (61) , herculis monaco (2) , genzebe dibaba (11) , diamond league (31)

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