Africa-Press – Kenya. The world record, meeting record and world leads were all set on Friday night during the Wanda Diamond League in Paris, France.
It will go down in history as one of the greatest nights in world athletics.
The 2021 World under-20 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi continued his already great season and rise to the top with another victory in his specialty during the night.
Fresh from winning Rabat Diamond League two weeks ago, Wanyonyi sped up in the final 100m through the outside lane to beat Canadian Marco Arop who led the race for most of the way.
Wanyonyi finished in a Personal Best of 1:43.27, taking 0.05 off the world lead he had set earlier in Nairobi last month. The race was extremely close such that the top six were separated by 0.30 seconds.
In the meantime, Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma added flavor to what was turning out to be an outstanding night by setting a new 3,000m steeplechase world record.
The 22-year-old stayed ahead of the wave lights to cross the finish line at 7:52.11. He shattered the record of 7:53.63 set by Qatari’s Said Saeed Shaheen 19 years ago.
The sound of the bell and the crowd reaction gave Girma an added impetus for the final lap in which he timed 64 seconds to become the new world record holder.
This record comes three months after he broke the 3,000m indoor world record on February in Levin, France.
The record had been standing for 25 years.“I feel so happy and proud. The world record is not a surprise; I had planned to beat it tonight here in Paris. It is a result of the full determination,” said Girma, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medalist.
Meanwhile, as he had predicted earlier on, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the 26-year-old 2-mile record set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen.
The Norwegian crossed the finish line in 7:54.10, reducing the previous world best by four seconds.
The World and Olympic 5,000m champion stuck behind the pacemakers throughout and charged through the final 200m, roared by the crowd and finished 15 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Ishmael Kipkirui in second.
“Being able to break this mark feels amazing. It is my first world’s best outdoors. The pace felt very smooth for me, coming out of the 1,500m. The public was amazing; without their help, it would have been more difficult. I was a bit surprised by the time in the end,” Ingebrigtsen said after the race.
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