AP News, February 3rd, 2007
Tirunesh Dibaba completed an impressive week, running away from the field on the final lap to win the women's 3,000 meters at the 100th Millrose Games on Friday night.
The Ethiopian, who set a world record in the 5,000 six days earlier in Boston, pulled away from American Sarah Hall in the last 200 meters to win in 8 minutes, 46.58 seconds. Hall held on for second place in 9:01.22, nearly collapsing after crossing the finish line.
Dibaba's victory was one of the early highlights of the meet, which marked the 100th consecutive running of the games _ a feat few sporting events have been able to match.
Dibaba, a bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, stayed in second place for the first half of the 20-lap race, remaining on the heels of Hall. Dibaba took the lead with 10 laps to go, though Hall kept with her until the final lap.
The sound system at Madison Square Garden blared a chorus from "Carmina Burana" as she tried to get closer to world-record pace. Then it switched to "Mission Impossible" with two laps to go, but she did not get close to the record of 8:27.86.
In the high school girls' mile, Danielle Tauro of Southern Regional High School in New Jersey successfully defended her Millrose Games title, winning in 4:52.81.
The meet also featured 40-year-old Gail Devers in the hurdles and the North American debut of Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, the reigning Olympic and world champion who has set 19 world records.
The Wanamaker Mile, traditionally the meet's highlight event, was to feature four-time winner Bernard Lagat, 2005 world championships 5,000 bronze medalist Craig Mottram and Alan Webb, who broke U.S. high school records in the mile five years ago and is trying to make his mark among the world's top milers.
