Mohamed Katir added the European 5000m record to his collection of accolades in the Monaco Diamond League on Friday (21) night.
The Spaniard might have been beaten by Jakob Ingebrigtsen over this distance at the European Athletics Championships in Munich last summer but Katir - who already holds the European indoor 3000m record - took ownership of his European record with a 12:45.01 clocking to improve Ingebrigtsen’s two-year-old mark of 12:48.45.
Katir finished a competitive fourth in a race which was won by Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet in a lifetime best of 12:42.18.
“The other athletes were very strong but I am also strong right now so I tried winning until the last metres. My goal was actually the European record so I'm really happy with it, even if I didn’t get the world lead,” said Katir.
In a race of incredible depth, nine athletes broke the 13 minute-barrier. Behind Katir, his Spanish teammate Thierry Ndikumwenayo finished eighth in a lifetime best of 12:55.47 while Jimmy Gressier went into uncharted territory as well when he clocked 12:56.09 to finish ninth, becoming the eighth European ever to run under 13 minutes while simultaneously improving the French record, which had stood for 22 years, by more than five seconds.
Gressier now has his sights on more record-breaking performances this summer. and an even older French standard. "I think I can announce that my next goal after the World Championships is to get the 10,000m national record in Brussels,” he said, advertising his attempt to consign Antonio Martins' 1992 mark of 27.22:78 to history.
The 2019 European U23 10,000m champion has had one previous serious attempt to reduce the French record over 25 laps of the track, at the 2022 European 10,000m Cup when he fell just short by less than two seconds when winning in what remains his personal best of 27:24.54.
And Gressier's plans for the next few weeks?
“Now I will focus on the national championships. I have to get first to qualify for the World Championships. Then, at the World Championships, I will try to get closer to 12:50. It would be a really good performance,” he said.
Warholm runs the fourth fastest 400m hurdles in history
Karsten Warholm’s assault on a possible third world 400m hurdles title gathered pace as the Norwegian eclipsed his world lead by 0.01 with 46.51, the fourth fastest time in history in an event which he has revolutionised.
Drawn in his preferred lane seven, Warholm was pursued directly on his inside by reigning world champion Alison dos Santos from Brazil who was making a welcome return to racing after knee surgery.
The pair were evenly matched until the seventh hurdle before Warholm’s superior strength and sharpness came into play with the Norwegian winning by more than one second from dos Santos in 47.66.
“This is a nice timing as the World Championships is just around the corner. Since I was injured last year, I enjoyed the racing more. Now I know how it is to be sitting on the outside of the race so I enjoyed it, to be honest. It is very important in this stage of my career.
“I won everything and I have the record so I have to enjoy it because there is no other reason to do it,” said Warholm.
With her customary late charge, Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek took her third Diamond League victory of the season in the 400m in 49.63 while recently crowned European U23 long jump champion Larissa Iapichino also made it a hat-trick of Diamond League wins in 2023, winning in the sixth round with an outdoor lifetime best of 6.95m.
Jakub Vadlejch from Czech Republic also won the javelin with his first round throw of 85.95m.
Full results here.