Dibaba, Souleiman set indoor world records
It was the third consecutive year Dibaba had set an indoor world record in Stockholm, having previously set the 3,000 and 5,000 metre records.
Published : Feb 18, 2016 19:20 IST
Genzebe Dibaba set a new world record in the indoor mile on Wednesday, beating a record that had stood for 26 years.
The Ethiopian's time of 4 minutes, 13.31 seconds beat Doina Melinte’s record set in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1990 by nearly four seconds. It was the third consecutive year Dibaba had set an indoor world record in Stockholm, having previously set the 3,000 and 5,000 metre records.
Dibaba, who was voted World Athlete of the Year in 2015, was understandably delighted with her latest visit to the Swedish capital.
“I know this track well, and it is very good for me,” she said. “I am very happy with this record. And I think I will be able to run even faster this season.”
On a night of record breaking at the World Indoor Tour event, Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman also set a new indoor record for the 1,000, streaking away on the final lap of the race to clock 2:14.20. The previous record of 2:14.96 had been set by Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer in 2000.
After the race, Souleiman praised the pacemaker. “After I passed 800m in 1:46, I knew I would have the record,” he said. “This is my first world record, and I am very happy.”
Both records still need to be ratified by the ruling IAAF. In the 500 metre race, Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar dug deep to finish in a world’s best time of 59.83 seconds ahead of Onkabetse Nkobolo of Botswana.
Meanwhile, 39-year-old Kim Collins from Saint Kitts and Nevis proved once again that age hasn’t diminished his speed winning the 60 metre sprint in 6.56 seconds, ahead of Americans Mike Rodgers and Joseph Morris.
In other events on a dramatic night, Adam Kszczot of Poland finished strongly to overtake Qatar’s Musaeb Balla on the home straight to win the 800 metres in a world leading time of 1:45.63. Mohamed Aman of Ethiopia was third.
In the 3,000 metres, Morocco’s Abdalaati Iguider was strong enough to hold off the challenge Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia to win in 7:39.04.
Canadian Tim Nedow threw a personal best 21.33 metres to win the men’s shot put, beating Poland’s Michal Haratyk into second and German Lauro of Argentina into third.
Meanwhile, world championship silver medallist Shara Proctor was beaten into third place in the long jump by fellow Briton, Lorraine Ugen. Ksenija Balta of Estonia won the event with a season’s best 6.76 metres.