Genzebe Dibaba and Hellen Obiri headline a titanic matchup in the Prefontaine Classic women’s 5000m, the third stop of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League, on 26 May.
Obiri won last year’s World Championships and IAAF Diamond League Trophy in the 5000m, but Dibaba has come back from an off year with an historic 1500/3000m double-gold performance at the World Indoor Championships in March. They are two of only five women to break 14:20 in the 5000m and both have set multiple Pre Classic records.
Their clash of skills includes speed – Dibaba owns the 1500m world record – and they will have unique company in Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, last year’s world leader in the 1500m who won gold at the 2016 World Indoor Championships and now trains in Oregon. This will be the first time all three will race together at the 5000m distance.
Dibaba, 27, won the 5000m in Eugene for the second time by over 10 seconds. In 2015 she outran the pacesetters and clocked 14:19.76, the fastest ever run in the U.S.
Obiri, 28, is the Kenyan record holder in the 5000m, an event she took up seriously only after childbirth in 2015. Her career best of 14:18.37 puts her at No. 5 on the all-time world list. Last month she won the Commonwealth Games 5000m but was a distant 14th in the Doha 3000m last Friday.
As usual, the Pre Classic women’s 5000m also brings an exciting cross-section of talent from around the world. Amongst these great world athletes the Ethiopian contingent includes Letesenbet Gidey, 20, who made the powerful national squad as a teenager last year, finishing 11th in London. She lowered her 3000m best to 8:30.96 for fifth last Friday in Doha. Gudaf Tsegay, 21, was announced earlier as part of the 1500m field, but has switched to the 5000m for her track debut at the distance. The youngest in the field is 19-year-old Fantu Worku who’ll be debuting over the distance. She was the national 1500m champion last year and more recently finished sixth in the world indoor 3000m.

The five member electoral committee and the three member appeal committee have already been in action as of 5th May 2018. They are involved in important undertakings including the final election date, which  has now  been confirmed. With new Presidential and Executive candidates expected to come along during the time frame for the whole process to be  revealed.
The Ethiopian Football National General Assembly took place on the 5th of May in the presence of all 122 voting members and Fifa representatives from Botswana. Of the eight candidates five were voted in to the Electoral Committee membership with a Sport Science Management Degree under his belt Aschenaki Lemma was bestowed the chairperson position. Engineer Getahun Hussein, Hiwot Adane, Mohammed Nur Abdulkerim and Ibrahim Adem are members of the committee shouldered with the most important task of the election that is confirming individuals qualified for the Presidency and  executives.
The three member Appeal Committee also geared up for anything abnormal in the process of the election. Lawyer Shiferaw Amenu collected the highest number of votes and took the chairmanship along with Obang Halaba and the only former footballer Gezahne Lemma.
Once the Committee formed it kicked-off its duty at roller-coaster speed setting schedules for all important events including the election date that is 3rd June 2018. Submitting names of presidential and executive candidates, evaluating candidates’ legibility, entertaining complaints worth appeal, announcements of the list of final candidates are the electoral board’s back breaking under takings ahead of the much anticipated the 3rd June election date. The sport family of Ethiopian football is waiting for the climax surely cross handed.

Following the humble settlement from Ethiopian Football Federation, the Referees and Match Officials Association withdrew from its three week strike so the Premier League fixtures will resume on Monday with the outstanding matches from week 17th and 18th.
Achieving the biggest ever triumph over the Ethiopian Football Federation including the insurance coverage, air transport, proper security of venues and a hundred thousand birr claim settlement for the assistant referee who was assaulted, the Referees and Match Officials Association lifted the suspension of the season fixtures so now it is business as usual as of Monday.
The suspended second half (45th minute) Welwalo-Adigrat versus Mekele Ketema match takes place on Monday. With the home side leading 1-0 at the time of the disruption, the visitors Mekele face strong defensive play from Tsegaye K/Mariam’s relegation threatened outfit. Yohannes Sahle is expected to come up with tactical genus in order to stay on course of a dream title.
Famous for an impressive home record 6th in the table Adama entertains ninth place visitors Wolyata Dicha while out of form Saint George faces old rival Ethio-Electric. Forth in the table The Horse Men and Coach Carlos Pinto are under pressure from supporters while The Power Houses 13th in the standings are struggling to run away from relegation zone.
When the remaining outstanding fixtures resumes on Friday, the anxiously awaited home side Mekele against visitors Saint George encounter takes place. A draw in the first round showdown in Addis Ababa, Mekele has every advantage to collect all three points in front of home supporters whereas Saint George needs an extra gear to stand up for the match. The other match on Friday brings bottom of the table Diredawa to a head on clash against visitors Wolayta Dicha.