Week in Review - World-Class Edition: Three for the record books
Kipyegon, Girma, and Ingebrigtsen set marks in women's 5,000 meters, men's steeplechase and two mile in historic meet in Paris
In a little more than a week, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya went from solidifying herself as the greatest women’s 1,500-meter runner in history to entering into the conversation as one of the best female distance runners of all time.
Such is life when you lower the world record to 3 minutes 49.11 seconds in the women’s 1,500 meters on the first Friday in June and come back a week later to run a world record of 14:05.20 in the 5,000.
While Kipyegon’s world record in the 5,000 was preceded by Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s world best of 7:54.10 in the men’s two-mile run and followed by Lamecha Girma’s world record of 7:52.11 in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in the historic Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday, her performance was the most intriguing one to me. That’s because it came about as the result of a good-old-fashion highly-competitive foot race.
The performances by Girma and Ingebrigtsen were sensational, and for what it’s worth have higher performance values than Kipyegon’s 14:05.20 according to the ratings system used by World Athletics. But both Girma and Ingebrigtsen were expected to finish well ahead of their fellow competitors in their record attempts.
Kipyegon, on the other hand, was in a race with Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, the world-record holder at 5,000 meters and winner of the women’s 10,000 in the World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon last July. She was also most intent before the race on bettering her personal best of 14:31.95 that she had set in 2015 while finishing second in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
“No, I did not think about the world record, I do not know how I made it,” Kipyegon was quoted as saying on the meet website. “I just focused on the green light and tried to stay relaxed and enjoy the race. I just did the race and wanted to see what happens, when I saw that it was a [world record] I was sooo surprised. It was all about giving my best. I just wanted to improve on my [personal best], the [world record] was not my plan. I just ran after Gidey, she is an amazing lady.”
With the pace lights on the railing on the inside of the track set to a final time of 14:10.50, or an average of 2:50.10 per kilometer, pace setter Sarah Lahti of Sweden came through the first 1,000 meters in 2:52.31.
Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya, the world-record holder in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, then came through two kilometers in 5:42.04 and three kilometers in 8:31.91. Her three-kilometer split projected to a final time of 14:13.19 at that point in the race. But when Chepkoech dropped out soon thereafter, the 25-year-old Gidey and the 29-year-old Kipyegon got down to some serious one-on-one racing.
Gidey came through 3,200 meters in 9:05.4, 3,600 in 10:13.6, and 4,000 in 11:21.93. Kipyegon was close behind Gidey at that point and she moved into the lead with about 720 meters left in the race.
Some might have expected Kipyegon to begin pulling away from Gidey at that point, but the Ethiopian was only two tenths of a second behind the Kenyan with 600, 400, and 200 meters left in the race.
However, Kipyegon tripled her small advantage with a 14.5-second clocking around the final turn before picking up more than two seconds on Gidey in the home straightaway as she ran her final 100 meters in an unofficial time of 14.1 to Gidey’s 16.2.
Kipyegon received a congratulatory hug from Gidey a few seconds after she had finished and she also got a huge embrace from Chepkoech, who lifted her off the ground while embracing her.
Kipyegon’s time of 14:05.20 bettered the previous world record of 14:06.62 that Gidey had set in Valencia, Spain in 2020 and made her the first woman since 1969— and the second in history behind Italian Paola Pigni — to hold world records in both the 1,500 and 5,000.
Gidey’s 14:07.94 clocking in second place was the third fastest ever run.
Behind those two came the greatest mass finish in history as the top six runners ran under 14:24.
Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia finished third in 14:13.31, the eighth-fastest time ever. She was followed by Lilian Kasait Rengeruk of Kenya in 14:23.05, Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia in 14:23.45, and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi of Kenya in 14:23.67.
Rengeruk, Hailu, and Kipkemboi moved to 14th, 15th, and 16th on the all-time world performer list with their efforts.
While it would be a reach to say Kipyegon is now THE greatest women’s distance runner in history, it is worth noting that in addition to her two recent world records, she is the two-time defending Olympic champion in the 1,500 and has won two gold medals and two silver medals in that event in the World Championships.
She also ranks second on the all-time list in the 1,000 meters at 2:29.15 and won U20 (under 20) titles in the 2011 and ’13 World Athletics Cross Country Championships and placed sixth in the senior women’s race in 2017. Lest anyone think she can no longer excel in cross country, she won the highly-regarded Sirikwa Cross Country Classic in Eldoret, Kenya in February.
To top it off, she has spoken recently of transitioning to the marathon before her career is over.
“It is amazing,” she said after her world record in Paris. “I do not know what will be next, I still have to discuss it with my coach and my management. I am sooo happy, I am very emotional right now and do not know what to say. If my body is healthy, anything is possible.”
Dual threat: With all the incredible success that Ethiopian men’s distance runners have experienced over the decades, Lamecha Girma did something last Friday that no other man from his country had previously accomplished. He set a world record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase when he ran 7:52.11 to win the event in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet.
Starting with Abebe Bikila’s world-record run to win the marathon in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, four Ethiopian men had set a combined 12 world records in that event, the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. But no Ethiopian had set a world record in the steeplechase until Girma’s time lowered the longstanding mark of 7:53.63 that had been set by Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar in 2004.
“I'm feeling so happy,” Girma said in quotes attributed to him on the meet website. “Happy and very proud. I felt so fast during the race, so confident. The world record is not a surprise, I planned to beat it tonight in Paris. It's a result of a full determination.”
Although he is only 22, Girma had won silver medals in the steeplechase in the World Championships in 2019 and ’22, and in the Olympic Games in 2021, as well as in the 3,000 in the 2022 world indoor meet. He had also had a 10-day stretch from May 31 to June 9 of last year when he broke 8 minutes in the steeplechase in three consecutive races, something that had never been accomplished in such a short period of time. But when the World Championships were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon in July, he was unable to match the last-lap speed of Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco.
Girma showed that he was an improved runner during the indoor season when he lowered the world record in the 3,000 to 7:23.81 and he opened up his outdoor season on May 5 when he ran 7:26.18 to win depth-laden 3,000 in the Diamond League opener in Doha, Qatar.
Although El Bakkali placed fourth in that race, he felt good about his personal best of 7:33.87 and lowered his steeplechase best to 7:56.68 three and a half weeks later in winning a Diamond League race in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. That was the fastest time in the world this year until Friday when Girma reaped the rewards of a well-planned world-record attempt.
Lawrence Kemboi Kipsang of Kenya led the field through the first kilometer in 2:37.3, but Girma was in the lead when he passed 1,200 meters in 3:08.5 and he never trailed again. His 2,000-meter split of 5:12.5 was significantly faster than the 5:18 that Shaheen had run during his record effort in the Memorial van Damme meet in Brussels in 2004. But while Shaheen picked up the pace over the last kilometer, Girma was slowing down as his third kilometer of 2:39.6 was his slowest of the race.
Nonetheless, his cushion at 2,000 meters was large enough that he still cut a second and a half off of the previous world record.
The next four finishes all set personal bests as Ryuji Miura of Japan placed second in 8:09.91 and Daniel Arce of Spain ran 8:10.63 in third.
Miura set a national record with his time, as did Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui of Tunisia with his fifth-place clocking of 8:12.19.
The question now is will Girma be able to defeat El Bakkali when the World Championships are held in Budapest, Hungary from Aug. 19-27? Girma could very well enter that meet with a faster personal best than El Bakkali. But the Moroccan has run 3:31.95 for 1,500 meters and Girma will probably need to break away from him at some point in the race in order to beat him. If he and the rest of the field let the pace lag, they will play right into El Bakkali’s hands.
Meeting in the middle: As the defending Olympic champion in the men’s 1,500 meters and the defending World champion in the 5,000, it would make sense that Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway could run a dynamite two mile.
Just how good a performance his combination of speed and endurance could produce came in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday when his winning time of 7:54.10 crushed the previous world best of 7:58.61 set by Daniel Komen of Kenya in 1997.
Although it is true that the two mile is an infrequently run event in comparison to the 3,000 meters, and neither event is contested at the global championships level, Ingebrigtsen’s time is extremely impressive when you consider that it converts to a 3,000 in 7:19.0. The current world record in the 3,000 is 7:20.67, set by Komen in 1996.
“Being able to make this record feels amazing,” Ingebrigtsen said in his post-race comments posted on the meet website. “It is my first world best outdoors. The pace felt very smooth for me, coming out of the 1500. I would say it was a good race. The public was amazing, without their help, it would have been more difficult. I was a bit surprised about the time in the end.”
Following pace setter Kyumbe Munguti of Kenya, Ingebrigtsen came through 1,600 meters in 3:58.9 and two kilometers in 4:57.7. Forging ahead on his own after Munguti dropped out, Ingebrigtsen ran his sixth 400-meter segment in 59.7 before running 58.2 for his seventh, and 55.4 for his eighth. He covered the final 18 meters of the two-mile race in 2.9 seconds.
Ishmael Rokitto Kipkurui of Kenya placed second in 8:09.23, followed by Ethiopian Kuma Girma in 8:10.34.
Ingebrigtsen, who came through 3,000 meters in 7:23.8 during the race, is the first Scandinavian runner to hold the world best in the men’s two mile since Lasse Viren of Finland ran a hand-held time of 8:14.0 in August of 1972.
Viren won the 5,000 and 10,000 in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich the following month and he would match that feat four years later in the Games of Montreal.
Superb opening race: Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain ran her first outdoor race of the season in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday and it was well worth the wait as she lowered her national record to 1:55.77 while running away from a high-caliber field.
The Olympic and World Championship silver medalist was in second place when pace setter Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka of Poland came through the first lap in 57.35 seconds. She then moved into the lead entering the backstretch after Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka dropped out. Although her pace slowed a little during the third 200-meter segment of the race, the 21-year-old Hodgkinson looked very fresh when she came through 600 meters in 1:26.55.
Running unchallenged over the final half lap, she crossed the finish line nearly two and a half seconds in front of American Ajee Wilson, who placed second in 1:58.16. Natoya Goule of Jamaica, who was just behind Hodgkinson at 400 meters, finished third in 1:58.23 and gave the English runner a big congratulatory hug after seeing her time.
Hodgkinson’s effort was the fastest in the world this year and lowered her previous national record of 1:55.88 that she had run while finishing second to American Athing Mu (1:55.21) in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
“Me and my coaches knew I was in that kind of shape,” Hodgkinson said in an interview on runnerspace.com. “But, you know, first race out, you don’t know what’s going to happen. But I really wanted to commit today and it really paid off.”
Close race, superb depth: While Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain was a runaway winner in the women’s 800 meters in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet, 18-year-old Emmauel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the men’s race after edging into the lead in the final 10 meters of the contest.
Fourth in the World Championships last year, Wanyonyi ran a personal best and yearly world-leading time of 1:43.27 to edge second-place Marco Arop of Canada by three hundredths of a second in a race in which the first six runners ran faster than 1:43.60. In addition, six of the top eight finishers ran personal bests.
After pace setter Patryk Sieradzki of Poland led the field through the first lap in 50.20 seconds, Arop, who likes to run from the front, took the lead down the backstretch and was still in first place with 50 meters left in the race. But five others runners, including Wanyonyi, were within a stride of the World Championship bronze medalist.
Wanyoni was in fourth place in the tightly-bunched lead pack with about 30 meters to go, but he managed to produce a late-race spurt while solidifying his hold on sixth on the all-time U20 performer list.
Following Arop across the line was Silmane Mouja of Algeria in a personal best of 1:43.38 and he was followed by his countryman and World Championship silver medalist Djamel Sedjati in a personal best of 1:43.40.
Benjamin Robert of France set a personal best of 1:43.50 in fifth, followed by the 1:43.56 season best of Wyclife Kinyamal of Kenya.
Here come the naysayers: I’m not sure what certain people were expecting of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in her first open 400-meter race of any kind in more than two years and her first final in the event in more than five years. But the critics were out in force on social media after the Olympic and World Championship gold medalist in the women’s 400 hurdles placed second in the one-lap race sans hurdles in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who lowered her world record in the 400 hurdles to a stunning 50.68 seconds in the World Championships last July, and her coach Bobby Kersee had previously spoken about wanting to see what she could do in the 400 if she focused that event. And there were some, including Kersee, who thought she might be able to challenge the world record of 47.60 that Marita Koch of East Germany had set winning the 1985 World Cup title in Canberra, Australia.
Judging by the some of the comments on social media, there were people out there who thought that meant she was going to break 49 seconds in her first race of the outdoor season.
One person posted that McLaughlin-Levrone’s performance showed that no 400-meter hurdlers would be breaking the world record in the 400. Another wrote that race winner Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic ran like a seasoned veteran, while MacLaughlin-Levrone “ran like a scared hare with its tail on fire.”
Based on what I observed while watching the race via Peacock, McLaughlin-Levrone went out too fast for the first 300 — signaling to me that she might have been overconfident, rather than scared — before tying up in the final 70 meters of the race.
Olympic and World Championship silver medalist Paulino, who was running in her fourth 400-meter race of the season, passed McLaughlin-Levrone with about 50 meters left in the contest on her way to a winning time of 49.12. That left her well clear of second-place McLaughlin-Levrone, whose 49.71 clocking bettered her previous personal best of 50.07 that she had run during her one — and only — season competing for the University of Kentucky in 2018.
Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, the 2019 World champion, finished third in 49.95 after lowering her season best to 49.78 in a meet in Huelva, Spain three days earlier.
“I was very pleased,” Kersee was quoted as saying about McLaughlin-Levrone’s performance in a post on the Los Angeles Times site last Friday. “She did exactly what I asked her to do and the things that went wrong, I know what I could do to correct it and get her ready for our national championships."
As the defending World champion in the 400 hurdles, McLaughlin-Levrone has an automatic bye into this year’s World Championships if she decides to compete in that event in the meet that will be held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19-27. But she will need to place among the top three finishers in the 400 in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon from July 6-9 in order to be eligible to run the 400 in Budapest.
Hot time in the high hurdles: After knocking on the door of a sub-13 clocking in the 110-meter high hurdles in recent weeks, Grant Holloway of the U.S. ran a yearly world-leading time of 12.98 seconds in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday.
The two-time defending World Championship gold medalist, Holloway had posted times of 13.01, 13.03 twice, 13.04, and 13.05 this season heading into the meet in Paris.
In a rarity, he was not the first one out of the blocks as Fred Roberts had the slightest of leads over him through the first three flights of hurdles. But the 25-year-old Holloway had taken command of the race by the time he cleared the fifth barrier and was never seriously challenged for first place as Just Kwaou-Mathey of France finished second in a personal best of 13.09. He was followed by Americans Jamal Britt and Roberts, who were each credited with times of 13.14.
Holloway’s time was particularly impressive because it was run into a 0.5 meters-per-second breeze.
“I am absolutely satisfied, it is a new world lead. It is a great time,” Holloway was quoted as saying on the meet website. “I wanted to set the tone. Last time I ran here I got 13.22, so now it is a lot better. I really executed the whole way round and I am pleased with it. When I got closer to the finish line, I knew it would be a good time. This meeting is always great and Jean Pierre, the [meet] director is an amazing guy. Just to come back here and to continue on this level. I really look forward to what this season still has to offer. It is amazing.”
Big victory: A 0.9 meters-per-second headwind prevented his time from being very noteworthy, but Noah Lyles of the U.S. defeated a high-quality field in winning the men’s 100 meters in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday.
Lyles, who set an American record of 19.31 seconds in winning his second consecutive title in the 200 in the World Championships last July, has aspirations of winning both the 100 and 200 in this year’s global title meet that will be held in Budapest, Hungary from Aug. 19-27. But he does not have a consistently good start and that can cause problems for him in the 100.
Defending Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who was making his outdoor season debut in Paris after pulling out of two prior meets due to an injury in his back, was one of the first sprinters out of the blocks, but no one was quicker than Johan Blake of Jamaica.
The 2011 World champion was still in the lead at the 50-meter mark, but by 70 meters, Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya was in first place and apparently headed to victory.
However, the 25-year-old Lyles was making up ground on everyone at that point and he edged past Omanyala in the final 10 meters of the race to record a 9.97 to 9.98 victory over the Kenyan.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana placed third in 10.05, followed by Blake (10.16) and Ronnie Baker of the U.S. (10.17). Jacobs finished seventh in 10.21 after appearing to ease up in the last couple of strides in the race.
“The focus is on the first 30 meters, the start — I had to make sure that it is fast and then build on it; then it will be a fast good race,” Lyles was quoted as saying on the meet website. “It was a fun run today, with a big crowd, they got me energized, I love that. It makes me want to come back here. Marcell? I do not know what happened to him, it is his business.”
That’s more like it: Olympic champion Valarie Allman of the U.S. dominated the women’s discus competition in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday while posting her sixth victory of the season without a loss.
The 28-year-old Allman won the event at 69.04 meters (226 feet 6 inches), but she also had throws of 68.74 (225-6) and 68.39 (224-4) that were more than three meters farther than the 65.18 (213-10) that Olympic silver medalist Sandra Perkovic of Croatia threw to finish in second place.
Allman’s performance was a big improvement over how she had performed in a Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy on June 2 when she won the competition at 65.96, but only had two fair throws while competing in wet conditions.
“I feel so good to execute what we were working on,” she was quoted as saying on the meet website. “My secret is to concentrate on the preparation and to take it one at a time. This stadium and this crowd were incredible! I feel very satisfied, I have executed a solid series. I am proud about this [meet record]. It is an honor for me, it is really a special competition. I am excited to come back here next summer.”
That’s more like it II: Olympic bronze medalist Gabby Thomas of the U.S. bounced back from a sub-par performance in the women’s 200 meters in the Los Angeles Grand Prix at UCLA on May 27 with a season best of 22.05 seconds to win the event in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday.
The 26-year-old Thomas was a close second to Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast after the first 100 meters of the race. But she moved into the lead shortly after that and really took control of the race in the final 50 meters to finish well ahead of second-place Abby Steiner of the U.S. and third-place Ta Lou, who were both credited with times of 22.34. Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain, bronze medalist in the World Championships last year, placed fourth in 22.57.
Thomas’ time was eight tenths of a second faster than what she had run while finishing fourth in the L.A. Grand Prix and she handed Steiner her first loss of the season in the 200 after she had won her first three races.
“Today, I am delighted about the victory and the time,” she was quoted as saying on the meet website. “I had come to run in Paris before but tonight is amazing. I am so excited. It was a really strong field and everybody talked about Dina and Marie-Josee. I am really happy about how the race went for me. Now I am looking forward to the [national championships].”
Rolling along: Brooke Andersen continued her outstanding season in the women’s hammer throw with a pair of victories last week.
First, the World champion threw 78.79 (258-6) to win the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz, Poland on June 6. Then she won the Meeting de Paris on Friday with a best of 77.13 (253-0).
She handed Camryn Rogers of Canada her first loss of the season in Bydgoszcz as she had three throws better than the World Championship silver medalist’s best of 77.62 in second place.
Rogers had handed Andersen her only loss of the season in eight meets in the Los Angeles Grand Prix at UCLA on May 26 when Rogers raised her Canadian record to 78.62 while topping Andersen’s best of 76.06.
With her performances last week, the 27-year-old Andersen has the seven longest throws in the world this year, topped by an 80.17 (263-0) effort that makes her the third-longest thrower in history.
Welcome to the club: Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines became the newest member of the six-meter club in the pole vault when he cleared that height to win the men’s event in the Bergen Jump Challenge in Bryggen, Norway on Saturday.
KC Lightfoot of the U.S., who had cleared a North American record of 6.07 (19-11) in winning the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee on June 2, also cleared 6.00 (19-8¾) in Bryggen. But he finished second because he cleared the height on his second attempt and Obiena made it on his first.
The 27-year-old Obiena needed two tries to clear his opening height of 5.53 (18-1¾). He then passed 5.68 (18-7¾) before clearing 5.76 (18-10¾) and 5.82 (19-1¼) on his first attempts. He proceeded to miss his first attempt at 5.88 (19-3½) before passing to 5.94 (19-6), which he cleared on his first try.
That height equaled the national record Obiena had set in finishing third in the World Championships and his 6.00 clearance added six centimeters to that mark.
He and Lightfoot each missed three times at 6.06 (19-10 ¾) to end the competition in which 2017 and ’19 World champion Sam Kendricks of the U.S. placed third at 5.88.
Then there were five: Olympic champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden threw a season best of 70.93 (232-8) to win the men’s discus in a meet in Sollentura, Sweden on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Stahl hit the mark in the fifth round while moving to second on the yearly world list behind the 71.00 (232-11) personal best of Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania and UC Berkeley.
“It was a good throw, I had big arms and went a little deeper inside,” he was quoted as saying in a post on tellerreport.com. “The previous throws were a little jumpier. I feel… Seventy meters is always wonderful to do. It's a dream limit and not easy to do every time, so when you do it, it's a wonderful feeling.”
Stahl became the fifth thrower in the world to have exceeded 70 meters (229-8) this season, marking the first time that has happened since 1984.
The five men who had season bests of more than 70 meters in 1984 were Americans John Powell (71.26/233-9), Art Burns (70.98/232-10), and Mac Wilkins (70.44/231-1), Swede Ricky Bruch (71.26/233-9), and Czechoslovakian Imrich Bugar (70.26/230-6).
Two liners: Nicola Olyslagers of Australia became the second woman in the world this year to clear 2.00 meters (6 feet 6¾ inches) in the high jump when she got over that height on her third attempt in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet last Friday. The Olympic silver medalist then missed three tries at 2.03 (6-8), which would have been the highest jump in the world this year. . . . Rudy Winkler of the U.S. defeated Olympic hammer throw champion Wojciech Nowicki of Poland for the first time this season in the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz, Poland on June 6. Winkler won the competition with his 79.70 (261-6) throw in the second round, but Nowicki was more consistent as he had throws of 79.52 (260-11), 79.46 (260-8), 79.39 (260-5), and 79.35 (260-4). . . . Anthony Zambrano of Colombia lowered his season best to 45.52 seconds in the men’s 400 meters in winning a meet in Huelva, Spain on June 6. The silver medalist in the World Championships in 2019 and in the Olympic Games in 2021, the 25-year-old Zambrano ran 46.90 in his only race last season after running a national record of 43.93 in a semifinal of the Olympics in Tokyo. . . . Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia defeated Hellen Obiri of Kenya to win the women’s race of the New York Mini 10K on Saturday. Teferi spurted away from Boston Marathon champion Obiri just after the six-mile mark on her way to a 30:12 to 30:19 victory.