Pal Haugen Lillefosse gained sole ownership of the Norwegian pole vault record on his home track at the Trond Mohn Games in Bergen on Wednesday (8) evening, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting.
Lillefosse had previously held the record jointly with his long-time contemporary Sondre Guttormsen but the 2018 European U18 champion eclipsed the record with a second-time clearance at 5.82m.
But that record was to last only a matter of minutes as Lillefosse - who lives and trains in Bergen - took the record to rarefied heights by clearing 5.85m on his third attempt.
This vault also puts Lillefosse second on the 2022 European list at this relatively early juncture of the summer campaign with world record-holder Armand Duplantis leading the way with his 6.01m clearance from Hengelo on Sunday afternoon.
Another youngster also took the headlines in the 3000m steeplechase. In a race won by Sweden’s Vidar Johanson in 8:24.98, reigning European U20 cross country champion Axel Vang Christensen also eclipsed one of the longest standing records on the books.
The 17-year-old finished seventh in 8:29.12 to break the European U20 record of 8:29.50 set by East Germany’s Ralf Ponitzsch all the way back in 1976. And by virtue of a 2004 birthdate, Christensen still has another full season left in the U20 ranks to further ameliorate this record.
Olympic silver medallist Eivind Henriksen was an expected winner of the hammer, winning by more than two metres with his second round throw of 77.47m. Marcus Thomsen also won the shot put on home soil with a season’s best of 20.85m and Narve Gilje Nordas took victory in the 3000m in 7:43.53.
But surprisingly, there wasn’t a Norwegian winner in the 800m. Dropping down in distance, Olympic and European 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen had to settle for fourth in 1:47.22 in a race won by the in-form Tony Van Diepen from the Netherlands in 1:46.56.
Full results here.