Norway runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen shattered the long-standing 3,000 metres world record by more than three seconds while Sweden's Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.26m at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in Poland.
Ingebrigtsen finished in a time of seven minutes 17.55 seconds, erasing the record set by Kenya's Daniel Komen in 1996 when he ran 7:20.67. It was the longest-standing men's athletics world record in individual track events.
The 23-year-old Norwegian was in shock when he crossed the line and looked at his time, putting his hands on his head in disbelief. Ingebrigtsen received a cheque for US$50,000 and posed with it in front of the clock at the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow.
"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. 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."
Three days ago, the Norwegian had exacted a small measure of revenge over American Cole Hocker by winning the 1500m in Lausanne in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris.
Ingebrigtsen finished ahead of a trio of Ethiopians, with 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.
Duplantis breaks own record
Photo: AFP
Duplantis broke the world record for the 10th time, beating the 6.25m he cleared after defending his Olympic title in Paris earlier this month, marking the third time this year he has broken his own record.
Such is his domination in the sport that the top 10 marks in the event all belong to the 24-year-old. The next best mark is 6.16m, held by France's 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie.
The Swede easily won the competition at 6.00m and immediately moved the bar to the world record height of 6.26, clearing it on his second attempt before he raced to the track and fell to the ground in celebration.
"I know a lot of people came here to see me jump, so I wanted to put in a good showing for them," Duplantis said.
"This year I focused on the Olympics, the record just came naturally because I was in good shape. So I am not surprised with the record today, but I am thankful."
Tamberi back on top
Italy's 2020 Olympic high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi failed to finish on the podium in Paris but he put his poor performance behind him to win the event with a jump of 2.31m.
"After the Olympics I felt destroyed. It was like losing someone dear. For three years I put everything I could into defending my title, only to lose the chance," he said.
"Even today I had good and bad jumps, and had two misses at 2.18m. It will take time to find myself again after Paris but the fans will help me."
New Zealand's Olympic champion Hamish Kerr finished ninth with a height of 2.18m
Botswana's Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo won the 200m by 0.03 seconds ahead of the Dominican Republic's Alexander Ogando while Kenneth Bednarek was third.
Other Olympic champions were beaten, with Emmanuel Wanyonyi coming second in the 800m behind Canada's Marco Arop, while American Ryan Crouser was second-best to compatriot Joe Kovacs in the shot put.
New Zealand's Jacko Gill finished seventh.
- Reuters / RNZ