BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, September 08 — After a World Championships where he complained of not feeling well (albeit with two medals around his neck) Jakob Ingebrigtsen showed what he can do when he feels good, taking down the 2000 World Record of 4:44.79 that Hicham El Guerrouj had held for 24 years and a day. “It always fun to break a record,” Ingebrigtsen said, and a sellout crowd of 47,000 in King Baudouin Stadium agreed loudly.
The 22-year-old Norwegian followed a trio of pacemakers through laps of 56.67 and 56.77 (1:53.44), and was two strides behind Boaz Kiprugut’s heels when he passed halfway in 2:22.28. Then there was only one rabbit left, Cornelius Tuwei, who pulled Ingebrigtsen through 1200 in 2:50.79.
Already he was well ahead of El Guerrouj’s splits (1:55.4, 2:52.4) and the crowd responded accordingly. Some 10m behind, 19-year-old Raynold Kipkorir led the chase pack.
With 700 left, Tuwei pulled off and Ingebrigtsen set out on his own on the newly-reconstructed track with long, generous turns. Immediately he started stretching his margin, chasing the Wavelight which had begun to creep ahead. His fourth circuit took 57.35 and he hit 1600 in 3:48.14 — El Guerrouj had been 3:49.60. He would need a 56.64 to break the record. On the backstretch he ran abreast of the leading edge of the lights and on the final turn he shifted and pulled ahead. The crowd — on their feet now — roared as he sprinted to the line and crossed in 4:43.13, his last lap 54.99.
Behind him came a parade of national records, 6 more in all, as would be expected with a top-notch field and a rarely-contested distance. Kipkorir was 2nd in a Kenyan (and World Junior) Record 4:48.14, Stewart McSweyn 3rd in an Australian Record 4:48.77, then Neil Laros in a Dutch Record 4:49.68 and Mario García in a Spanish Record 4:49.85.
It was the first time more than one man had dipped under 4:50. The first 10 finishers ran the best-ever mark for their places.
Said the winner, “I had some kind of virus 10 days ago and I didn’t really know how I would be feeling today. However, I felt really good and ran a good race. To be honest this record wasn’t a difficult one for me. Sure, when you have to do it alone, it’s really tough, but I got great help from the pacemakers. Actually, they were able to help me more than I expected.”
When Mondo goes, nobody knows. True to the form that most recently brought the Swedish Louisianan his second WC vault gold, Mondo Duplantis topped a stellar field — including runner-up Sam Kendricks who once again came up with some big clutch jumps — to take three tries at the 20-5¼ (6.23) bar that had eluded him four times since he raised the all-time best to 20-4¾ (6.22) indoors in February.
The WR attempts started badly but got much better, and his final try had the crowd gasp as he barely brushed the bar with his chest before it fell. He had to settle for a meet record 20-0 (6.10), as Kendricks topped EJ Obiena as both cleared 19-5 (5.92).
Mondo was not happy. “It was close, but it wasn’t´t a great jump,” he said. “I really believe that I should have made it today. I wanted a mark in between with the 6.10 [20-0] and that took a little bit out of me, maybe even a little bit too much. I had it in me to jump the World Record today and I really thought that I was going to do it. It’s a shame.”
A fine 200 saw Briton Zharnel Hughes challenge Kenny Bednarek, but the American wouldn’t allow himself to be passed in the final strides, holding on for a 19.79–19.82 win, with Andre De Grasse at 19.89.
A frenzied 800 had no one close to the rabbit at 400 (48.86) but quite a crowd hammering the final 300. Algerian Djamel Sedjati came out on top, catching France’s Yanis Meziane on the final stretch for a 1:43.60–1:43.94 victory. American Bryce Hoppel was never really in the mix, but finished 6th in 1:44.37.
BRUSSELS MEN’S RESULTS
200(-0.1): 1. Kenny Bednarek (US) 19.79; 2. Zharnel Hughes (GB) 19.82; 3. Andre De Grasse (Can) 19.89; 4. Aaron Brown (Can) 19.98; 5. Joe Fahnbulleh (Lbr) 20.24; 6. Filippo Tortu (Ita) 20.30; 7. Kyree King (US) 20.52.
400: 1. Rusheen McDonald (Jam) 44.84; 2. Alexander Ogando (DR) 44.93; 3. Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen (Nor) 45.07; 4. Leungo Scotch (Bot) 45.14; 5. Gilles Biron (Fra) 45.26; 6. Dylan Borlée (Bel) 45.39.
800: 1. Djamel Sedjati (Alg) 1:43.60; 2. Yanis Meziane (Fra) 1:43.94 PR; 3. Tshepiso Masalela (Bot) 1:44.03 PR; 4. Daniel Rowden (GB) 1:44.12; 5. Ben Pattison (GB) 1:44.32; 6. Bryce Hoppel (US) 1:44.37; 7. Wycliffe Kinyamal (Ken) 1:44.38; 8. Saul Ordóñez (Spa) 1:44.84;… rabbit—Khaled Benmahdi (Alg) (48.86).
2000: 1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 4:43.13 WR (old WR Hicham El Guerrouj [Mor] ’99);
2. Raynold Kipkorir (Ken) 4:48.14 NR, WJR (old WJR 4:56.25 Tesfaye Cheru [Eth] ’11) (4, 4 W);
3. Stewart McSweyn (Aus) 4:48.77 NR (7, 8 W); 4. Niels Laros (Neth) 4:49.68 NR, NJR (8, 11 W; 2, 2 WJ); 5. Mario García (Spa) 4:49.85 NR (9, 12 W);
6. Narve Gilje Nordås (Nor) 4:50.64 PR (12, 16 W); 7. Abel Kipsang (Ken) 4:50.68 PR; 8. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (Can) 4:51.54 NR; 9. Ruben Verheyden (Bel) 4:52.37 NR; 10. Samuel Tanner (NZ) 4:53.09 PR;… rabbit—Boaz Kiprugut (Ken) (2:22.28).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 1–10)
Non-DL 10,000: 1. Daniel Simiyu (Ken) 26:57.80 PR; 2. Jimmy Gressier (Fra) 27:25.48; 3. Stanley Waithaka (Ken) 27:30.36; 4. Amanal Petros (Ger) 27:47.62 PR;… rabbits—Santiago Catrofe (Uru) (2:40.72, 5:21.73, 8:02.62), Benard Kibet (Ken) 10:44.01 (13:25.33).
Non-DL 4 x 100: 1. Netherlands 38.49; 2. Belgium 38.77.
Field Event
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 20-0 (6.10) (18-5¼, 19-1, 19-5, 19-9, 20-0, 20-5¼ WR [xxx]) (5.62, 5.82, 5.92, 6.02, 6.10, 6.23 [xxx]); 2. Sam Kendricks (US) 19-5 (5.92) (17-9¼, 18-5¼ [3], 18-9¼, 19-1 [x], 19-3, 19-5, 19-9 [xxx]) (5.42, 5.62 [3], 5.72, 5.82 [x], 5.87, 5.92, 6.02 [xxx]); 3. EJ Obiena (Phi) 19-5 (18-5¼ [2], 19-1, 19-5 [3], 19-9 [xxx]) (5.62 [2], 5.82, 5.92 [3], 6.02 [xxx]); 4. Chris Nilsen (US) 19-1 (5.82); 5. KC Lightfoot (US) 19-1; 6. Zach McWhorter (US) 19-1; 7. Thibaut Collet (Fra) 19-1; 8. Sondre Guttormsen (Nor) 18-9¼ (5.72); 9. Ben Broeders (Bel) 18-9¼; 10. Kurtis Marschall (Aus) 18-5¼ (5.62).
