Diane Van Es from the Netherlands ran the fastest ever time in a women's 5km by a European in the Monaco Run on Sunday (9) morning.
Behind race winner Likina Amebew from Ethiopia who won in 14:33, Van Es clocked 14:39 to set a European 5km record in a mixed race. Her time was also faster than Sifan Hassan's European 5km record of 14:44 which was set in a women's only race in Monaco in 2019.
Van Es was outside European record pace through the 3km checkpoint in 8:55 but the European 10,000m silver medallist behind Nadia Battocletti in Rome last year finished with a flourish, closing with a final kilometre of 2:45 to break the record.
Slovenia’s Klara Lukan also just missed the previous record in third with 14:46 while Olympic triathlon champion Cassandre Beaugrand, who has represented France in three editions of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, finished an excellent fourth in a French record of 14:53, breaking the previous mark by five seconds.
Belgium’s former European cross country silver medallist Isaac Kimeli won the men’s race in 13:15, leading an all-European podium. Germany’s Frederik Ruppert and France’s Djilali Bedrani were second and third respectively in 13:21 and 13:22.