In the Olympic city of Paris, the track and field athletes set an exclamation mark a good year before the major sporting event with two world records set by African runners. For the second time in a week, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon set a world record.
The two-time Olympic champion ran over 5000 meters in 14:05.20 minutes at the Diamond League meeting in Paris, beating the previous record holder Letesenbet Gidey from Ethiopia (14:06.62).
The 29-year-old middle-distance runner had already set a world record in the 1500 meters in 3:49.11 minutes seven days earlier at the Diamond League meeting in Florence. “I didn’t think about the world record. I don’t know how I did it,” said Kipyegon. “It was just about doing my best. The world record wasn’t my plan.”
Girma undercuts 19-year-old record
Ethiopian Lamecha Girma set a world record in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. In 7:52.11 minutes, the 22-year-old Olympic and World Championship silver medalist undercut the 19-year-old record of Shaheen Saif Saeed, who ran 7:53.63 minutes in Brussels in 2004. The Norwegian Olympic champion, world and European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen had aimed for the world record over two miles – but clearly missed it in 7:54.10 minutes.
The American Noah Lyles won the 100 meter sprint in 9.97 seconds just ahead of Ferdinand Omanyala from Kenya (9.98). The double Olympic champion from 2021 in Tokyo, Marcell Lamont Jacobs, had a weak performance. The Italian crossed the finish line in 10.21 seconds only in seventh place and penultimate.
The 30-year-old shot putter Sara Gambetta (SV Halle) managed the best shot of her career outdoors with 19.08 meters. She finished fifth. The eighth Olympic athlete had only surpassed the 19-meter mark in a competition indoors in February 2022 in Leipzig. Auriol Dongmo from Portugal won on the Seine with 19.72 meters.
Javelin thrower Christin Hussong is fighting to return to the top of the world after a long break. The ex-European champion from Zweibrücken stayed under the 60 meter mark again with 59.14 meters. Potsdam’s Kristin Pudenz provided the best German placement in the discus throw with 62.87 meters. Valarie Allman (69.04/USA) won unchallenged.
