Jakob Ingebrigtsen shattered the longstanding 3,000m world record by more than three seconds at the Silesia Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland, at which Armand Duplantis took the pole vault to new heights.
Ingebrigtsen finished in a time of 7min 17.55sec, erasing the record set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996 when he ran 7:20.67 in Rieti, Italy. The Norwegian’s previous best time over the distance came in September last year when he was nearly three seconds slower than Komen’s mark.
The 23-year-old was in shock when he crossed the line and looked at his time. Ingebrigtsen received a cheque for $50,000 (£42,000) and posed with it in front of the clock.
“It feels special, amazing. I was hoping to challenge the world record here, but based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of,” he said. “I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though. At the beginning the pace felt really fast, but then I started to feel my way into the race and found a good rhythm.
“[The] 3,000 is a tough distance,” continued Ingebrigtsen. “After four-five laps you feel the lactic acid, but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat today, but it is the same for everyone. Now I want to challenge world records at all distances, but it is one step at a time.”
He finished ahead of a trio of Ethiopians, with the Paris Olympics 10,000m silver medallist, Berihu Aregawi. second in a personal best and the third-fastest time in history (7:21.28). Yomif Kejelcha was third.
Three days ago, the Norwegian had exacted a small measure of revenge over the American Cole Hocker by winning the men’s 1500m in Lausanne in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris.
There was also world record success for Duplantis as he cleared 6.26m, achieving his 10th world record to beat the 6.25m he set at the Paris Olympics. In a high-quality competition, Sam Kendricks of the US and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis also cleared six metres – the latter setting a new national record as he reached the mark.
After running a season’s-best 10.88 to triumph in the 100m in Lausanne, Dina Asher-Smith did not compete in Silesia after saying on her Instagram stories on Saturday that her body needed a “little rest”. Jamaica’s Tia Clayton edged a tight three-way finish, her time of 10.83 matched by Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou, while Tamari Davis of the US took third, one hundredth of a second behind. Great Britain’s Daryll Neita was fourth, an improvement on Thursday’s disappointing seventh.
Another British athlete, Jemma Reekie, took second in the women’s 1,000m with a time of 2:32.56 to finish just behind Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir. Georgia Bell, the 1500m bronze medallist in Paris, finished third again in the event, this time behind the Ethiopian pair Diribe Welteji, the world silver medallist, and the world indoor champion, Freweyni Hailu.
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo’s stunning season continued with a barnstorming finish in the men’s 200m. The Olympic champion took the win in 19.83 ahead of Alexander Ogando, who set a Dominican record of 19.86, with Kenny Bednarek of the USA – the silver medallist in Paris – holding off his compatriot Erriyon Knighton for third in 20.00.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent won with 12.29 ahead of Grace Stark of the USA, who was second in 12.37. Nugent, who failed to finish in the Paris final after striking the first barrier, has nevertheless put a remarkably consistent recent run together, with times of 12.28, 12.29 twice and 12.30 in the space of eight weeks.