Jakob Ingebrigtsen shattered one of the longest standing track world records* at the Silesian Stadium on Sunday (25) as he clocked a staggering 7:17.55 for the 3000m, taking more than three seconds off the mark of 7:20.67 set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996.
It was a huge performance at the 12th Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season for the 23-year-old Norwegian who lost his Olympic 1500m title in Paris earlier this month but won gold in the 5000m.
On the eve of competition Ingebrigtsen had commented: “I’m excited about the race. The 3000m is a very good distance for me, and everything is lined up for something big.”
This was big. Already third on the world all-time list with the 7:23.63 he ran in Eugene last year, he knew there was a big gap even to the second best performance of 7:23.09, set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999.
But on this day Ingebrigtsen became a history man, moving clear of the field over the final lap after passing the bell with the green wavelight world record indicators scattering behind him as if they had fallen out of his pockets.
By the time he hit the finishing straight he was, astonishingly, 10 metres clear of the green light snake and put his hands to his head after crossing the line. Etihopia’s Berihu Aregawi, the Olympic 10,000m silver medallist, produced the third best performance of all time as he crossed second in 7:21.28.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
