Jakob Ingebrigtsen smashes 3,000m world record, Armand Duplantis soars to new pole vault mark

WARSAW – Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen shattered the long-standing 3,000 metres world record by more than three seconds, while Sweden’s Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.26m at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Aug 25.

Ingebrigtsen finished in 7min 17.55sec, erasing Kenyan Daniel Komen’s 1996 mark when he ran 7:20.67. It was the longest-standing men’s individual track world record.

The Norwegian, 23, crossed the line and looked at his time, then put his hands on his head in disbelief. Ingebrigtsen received a cheque for US$50,000 (S$65,140) and posed with it in front of the clock at Chorzow’s Silesia Stadium.

“It feels special, amazing. I was hoping to challenge the world record here but, based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of,” he said.

“I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though. At the beginning, the pace felt really fast but then I started to feel my way into the race and found a good rhythm.

“(The) 3,000 is a tough distance. After four-five laps, you feel the lactic acid but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat today, but it is the same for everyone.”

On Aug 22, the Norwegian had exacted revenge over American Cole Hocker by winning the 1,500m in Lausanne in 3:27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris.

Ingebrigtsen finished ahead of a trio of Ethiopians, with Paris Olympics 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi second in a personal best and the third-fastest time in history (7:21.28). Yomif Kejelcha was third.

Duplantis broke the world record for the 10th time, beating the 6.25m he cleared after defending his Olympic title in Paris earlier in August, marking the third time in 2024 he has broken his own record.

Such is his domination in the sport that the pole vault’s top-10 marks all belong to the 24-year-old. The next best is 6.16m, held by France’s 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie.

The Swede easily won the competition at 6.00m and immediately moved the bar to the world-record height of 6.26.

His first effort was a poor one, perhaps lowering expectations.

But on his second attempt, the Swede soared over to huge cheers from the spectators before he raced to the track and fell to the ground in celebration.

“I know a lot of people came here to see me jump, so I wanted to put in a good showing for them,” Duplantis said.

“This year I focused on the Olympics, the record just came naturally because I was in good shape.

“So I am not surprised with the record today, but I am thankful.

“It almost feels weird and unnatural to get so much love and support from the crowds when I compete. I see that especially in Poland.

“The energy in this stadium just keeps getting better every year. My first world record also came in Poland, indoors in Torun (in 2020), so I have great memories from here.”

Italy’s Tokyo Games high jump joint-champion Gianmarco Tamberi failed to finish on the podium in Paris, but he put his poor performance behind him to win the event with a jump of 2.31m.

“After the Olympics, I felt destroyed. It was like losing someone dear,” he said.

“For three years I put everything I could into defending my title, only to lose the chance.

“Even today, I had good and bad jumps, and had two misses at 2.18m.

“It will take time to find myself again after Paris, but the fans will help me.”

Botswana’s Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo won the 200m by 0.03sec ahead of the Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando, while Kenneth Bednarek of the United States was third.

Other Olympic champions were beaten, with Emmanuel Wanyonyi coming second in the 800m behind Canada’s Marco Arop, while American Ryan Crouser finished second best to compatriot Joe Kovacs in the shot put. REUTERS