France’s multiple European cross country champion Jimmy Gressier set a European 10km record of 27:07 on home soil in Lille on Sunday (17) morning.
Gressier shaved six seconds off the previous mark which was jointly held by Julien Wanders and Dominic Lobalu as he won the race in a sprint finish from former world 5000m bronze medallist Jacob Krop from Kenya.
Gressier now has ownership of the European records at 5km (13:12) and 10km (27:13) and the Frenchman has hinted that the European half marathon record of 59:13 - set by Wanders in Ras Al Khaimah in 2019 - is also an objective.
Gressier was slightly outside European record pace through 5km in 13:37 but powered through the second half in 13:30 and closed with a final kilometre of 2:40 to outsprint Krop who was given the same time in second.
“The road to the European Championships in Rome and the Paris Olympics has started well and I can’t wait,” Gressier wrote on social media after breaking the European 10km record.
A winner of nine European cross country titles across all age-groups, Gressier will be hoping to round in on his first track medal in Rome this June after finishing fourth in the 10,000m at the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships.
Almgren stuns with 26:52.87 10,000m in California
The men’s European all-time 10,000m list was thoroughly rewritten at The TEN Sound Running Meeting in San Juan Capistrano in California on Saturday (16) evening.
Former 800m specialist Andreas Almgren continued his reinvention as a long distance runner by shattering the Swedish 10,000m record with 26:52.87 to move to third on the European all-time list behind Mo Farah (26:46.57) and Mohamed Mourhit (26:52.30).
A former world U20 800m bronze medallist, Almgren’s range extends even beyond the track as he demonstrated by clocking 59:23 for a half marathon in Barcelona last month but the Swede will focus solely on the track this summer with a possible 5000/10,000m double on the cards in Rome.
Behind Almgren, Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli and Great Britain’s Patrick Dever clocked 27:07.97 and 27:08.81 to move to fourth and fifth respectively on the European all-time 10,000m list.
European U23 cross country champion Megan Keith also excelled on her 10,000m debut, finishing fourth in an Olympic qualifying time of 30:36.84 - the second fastest time in history by a European at U23 level.
Grøvdal takes the plaudits in New York
After finishing third on three occasions, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal graduated to victory in the New York Half Marathon on Sunday (17) morning.
Grøvdal took the victory in 69:09, winning by a clear margin from a strong Kenyan contingent with Gladys Chepkirui (69:27), former two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat (69:46) and Cynthia Limo (71:54) occupying second, third and fourth respectively.
“I'm so happy to take a win here. I had a dream to do that so it's so fun. I really like to run in New York; it’s my fifth time running here, and I love it. To win here is fantastic,” said Grøvdal.
Grøvdal will now turn her attention to the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on 30 March and she is also planning to challenge Grete Waitz’s legendary Norwegian 3000m record of 8:31.75 - a mark which has stood since 1979 - at the Bislett Games in Oslo on 30 May.
Steven Mills for European Athletics