Kenyan Celliphine Chespol won the Pre Classic 3000m steeplechase in the second-fastest time ever ... after stopping to fix her shoe on the penultimate lap.
Chespol, 18, contorted the back of her right shoe on the water jump with about 550 meters left in Friday night’s race at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
At the time, Chespol was in a three-woman lead group that included Ruth Jebet, the Olympic champion and world-record holder. She stopped for two seconds to address the heel as the other two runners went by her.
But Chespol surged back into the lead with 200 meters to go and won in 8:58.78. That trails only Jebet’s world record of 8:52.78 set Aug. 27. Chespol slashed nearly seven seconds off her personal best.
Full Pre Classic results are here.
Pre Classic coverage continues Saturday on NBC and streaming on NBC Sports Gold from 4-6 p.m. ET.
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