Personal best ends ‘cool week’ for Buscomb
Waikato athlete Camille Buscomb reflected on ‘‘an awesome week’’ at the world championships in Doha after another personal best in the women’s 5000m final.
The 29-year-old finished 12th in the 15-strong field yesterday in 14min 58.59sec.
Doha must be one of Buscomb’s favourite destinations after she qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games in the 10,000m and 5000m in the Qatari capital and set personal best times in both events.
‘‘I’m really happy,’’ Buscomb said. ‘‘Two 12th placings and three PBs, it’s been an awesome week.’’
Buscomb arrived in Doha with a 15min 19.81sec personal best in the 5000m.
She ran 15min 02.19sec in qualifying and improved that over three seconds in the final, won by Kenya’s Helen Obiri in a world championship record 14min 26.72sec.
‘‘I am really pleased,’’ Buscomb said. ‘‘I just wish I’d probably had a bit more confidence to
push it earlier on.
‘‘I ended up chasing five laps on my own, but I’m really happy with how strong I ran and I ran another PB. It’s been a really cool week.’’
Buscomb ran 31min 13.20sec in finishing 12th in the 10,000m earlier in the programme. Hamilton-born Buscomb went Purdue University in the to
United States on a track scholarship before completing her studies at Waikato University.
New Zealand marathoners Malcolm Hicks (Auckland) and Caden Shields (Otago) finished
27th and 30th, respectively, in the men’s race which began at midnight in 50 per cent humidity and
29 degrees.
Hicks was 54th and Shields
55th at the halfway stage and had moved up to 34th and 37th by the
30km mark, in the race won by Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia in 2hr
10min 40sec.
‘‘The first group went out really quick and Caden and I ran a really conservative first half through about 69 minutes just together all the way, and we felt really comfortable,’’ Hicks said. ‘‘Both of us ran a fantastic second half and moved our way through the field.’’
Shields was ‘‘really with the way I ran’’.
‘‘I was only two and a half minutes off my personal best, which in these conditions is awesome. I didn’t feel the heat really the whole race. I just focussed on fuelling and keeping a good rhythm and maintaining my form, going strong.’’
Hicks finished in 2hr 17min
45sec and Shields in 2hr 18min
08sec. happy