Kipyegon, Girma star in night of world records in Paris
PARIS
Kenyan Faith Kipyegon has made it two world records in a week after delivering a masterclass in the women's 5,000m at the Paris Diamond League meeting while Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma has smashed the 19-year-old record in the men's 3,000m steeplechase.
Kipyegon headlined a stellar night of track and field at the Stade Charlety that also saw Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new world record in the rarely-run 2 miles event.
Kipyegon showed her trademark kick to the line in the 5,000m 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.
There were further outstanding performances from Keely Hodgkinson, the world and Olympic silver medallist from Britain who set the 10th fastest time ever in dominating the women's 800m in 1min 55.77sec, while American Grant Holloway showed promising early-season form in winning the 110m hurdles in 12.98sec.
Not to be outdone, Girma, twice a silver medallist at the world championships and once at the Olympics, clocked 7:52.11, shattering the previous best of 7:53.63 set by Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen in Brussels in 2004.
"I'm happy and very proud. I felt so fast during the race, so confident," said Girma, 22. "The world record is not a suprise, I planned to beat it tonight in Paris. It's a result of a full determination."
