FLORENCE – Norway’s 20-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen earned a landmark 5,000 metres victory at the Diamond League meeting in Florence on Thursday, beating a several elite runners that included Uganda’s world record-holder Joshua Cheptegei.
The Norwegian set a European record of 12min 48.45sec, the fastest run this year.
It was a hugely timely flourish for the European 1500m and 5000m champion at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in the face of an athlete who lowered the 5,000m world record to 12:35.36 last August and in October set a 10,000m world record of 26:11.00.
A season’s best of 12:54.69 was only enough to earn the 24-year-old Ugandan sixth place in a dazzling race that followed an equally compelling spectacle in the women’s 1500m, where world champion Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands narrowly defeated Kenya’s Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon.
Ingebrigtsen, whose time eclipsed the mark of 12:49.71 set by Belgium’s Mohammed Mourhit in 2000, was chased home by Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet, who clocked a season’s best of 12:49.02, Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed, who also ran a season’s best of 12:50.12, and Spain’s Mohamed Katir, whose 12:50.79 was a national record.
Hassan, world 10,000m record-holder for two days this week before her mark was bettered by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, won in 3:53.63, a meeting record and the fastest time run this season.
In a pulsating race the current world 1500m and 10,000m champion – who will seek a 5,000m and 10,000m double in Tokyo – finished just ahead of Kipyegon, who clocked a national record of 3:53.91.
Britain’s European champion Laura Muir was third in a season’s best of 3:55.59.
