South Africa: World Records Shattered in Epic Night of Athletics

9 June 2023
Scrolla (Johannesburg)
By Zukile Majova

For years now there has been a theory that the Stade Charlety, the Paris home of the Diamond League, has a superfast track.

This may be true as the latest Diamond League last Friday saw three very difficult world records broken.

Kenyan middle distance specialist Faith Kipyegon, fresh from breaking the 1500 metre record seven days earlier, stunned the world when she set a new world record (14:05.20) in the 5 000 metres.

This is a distance she last ran eight years ago and she simply set out to improve her personal best time.

She told reporters that her plan was to track Ethiopian 5000 metre specialist Letesenbet Gidey who started the race as the world record holder.

"It's like I'm dreaming. I'm so happy and emotional right now. I just wanted to improve on my PB, the world record was not my plan. I just ran after Gidey."

On the same night Ethiopian 3,000 metre steeplechaser Lamecha Girma set a new world record.

Although he is the world indoor record holder for the distance, avid followers of athletics expected the Moroccan steeplechaser El Bakkali to break the record this season.

Earlier in the day the super talented Norwegian middle and long distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the two-mile world best record by four seconds.

So why were the records tumbling in Paris and so early in the season?

Beyond the abilities of athletes, there is a theory that the world record pace monitoring lights on the track are helping the athletes smash world records.

But on the evening of the Paris Diamond League athletes noted that it was a warm evening which contributes to better muscle performance. It has also been speculated that the latest designs of running shoes give athletes an edge.

Either way fans of athletics are in for a great treat this year with the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary getting underway in a few weeks time on 19 August.

Pictured Above: Kenyan middle distance runner Faith Kipyegon breaks the 500m world record

Source: Diamondleagueathletics

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