World 200m champion Noah Lyles scorched to victory in the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Friday, but Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs could only finish seventh.
Lyles clocked 9.97sec to edge out Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala who finished in 9.98 as Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo rounded out the podium (10.05) in perfect sprinting conditions at the Stade Charlety.
Jacobs has had a difficult start to the season -- the Italian has twice pulled out of 100m showdowns with world champion Fred Kerley due to a back problem.
He failed to react as Kerley’s US teammate Lyles pulled away to the line. Jacobs crossed well off the pace in 10.21.
2011 world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica was out fastest, but Lyles showed some class in his transition into the final 50 metres to pull clear, albeit with African champion Omanyala -- who is this season’s fastest after running 9.84sec in Nairobi -- breathing down his neck.
Girma sets new men’s 3,000m steeplechase world record
Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma smashed a 19-year-old world record in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Friday.
Girma, twice a silver medallist at the world championships and once at the Olympics, clocked 7min 52.11sec, shattering the previous best of 7:53.63 set by Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen in Brussels in 2004.
“I’m feeling so happy. Happy and very proud,” Girma said. “I felt so fast during the race, so confident. The world record is not a surprise, I planned to beat it tonight in Paris. It’s a result of a full determination.”
It was a third world record on a remarkable night of racing in the French capital after Kenyan Faith Kipyegon broke the women’s 5,000m mark and Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen sliced four and a half seconds off the record for the rarely-run men’s 2 miles.
Girma, 22, completely dominated the race, finishing 17 seconds ahead of second-placed Ryuji Miura, who set a new Japanese record of 8:09.91. Daniel Arce of Spain was third in 8:10.63.
As with the other records, Girma was aided by Wavelight technology, the infield lights which help runners pace their race.
Kipyegon sets new women’s 5,000m world record
Faith Kipyegon of Kenya set a second world record in seven days when she raced to victory in the women’s 5,000m at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Friday.
Kipyegon shattered the world record in the 1500m in Florence last week and kept her nerve over the longer distance to win in 14min 05.20sec, slicing a full second and a half off the previous best of 14:06.62 set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, the world 10,000m champion.
“No, I did not think about the world record, I do not know how I made it,” said Kipyegon, who burst into tears after crossing the line.
“I just focused on the green light and tried to stay relaxed and enjoy the race.
“I just did the race and wanted to see what happens. When I saw that it was a world record I was so surprised. It was all about giving my best. I just wanted to improve on my personal best, the WR was not my plan.”
The field was aided by three pacesetters, including Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech, another world record holder, albeit in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Carefully following the trackside lighting system that indicated world record pace, Kipyegon hit the front with 700m of the 12-and-a-half lap race to run.
Gidey stayed on her heels as the Kenyan, a double world and Olympic champion over the 1500m, went through the bell in front.
The Ethiopian threatened to hit back coming into the final 200 metres, but Kipyegon accelerated away down the home straight in an absolute masterclass of distance running, just as she did in Florence last week.
Gidey finished second in 14:07.94 with another Ethiopian, Ejgayehu Taye, the world record holder over 5km, coming in third (14:13.31)
Kipyegon had been scheduled to return for a training camp in Kenya before returning to Europe for another potential record attempt over 1500m at the Monaco Diamond League meet on July 21.
But after her second world record, she said: “I do not know what will be next, I still have to discuss it with my coach and my management.
“I am so happy, I am very emotional right now and do not know what to say. If my body is healthy, anything is possible.”
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