Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon has broken the world record in the 1500m. The 29-year-old Olympic champion ran 3:49.11 minutes at the end of the Diamond League meeting in Florence on Friday evening.
Kipyegon thus undercut the almost eight-year-old mark of Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba, who ran 3:50.07 minutes in Monaco on July 17, 2015. At the finish, World Association President Sebastian Coe, once a world record holder and Olympic champion, also congratulated him. “I’m surprised, I didn’t expect that today,” Kipyegon told Sky TV.
Gina Lückenkemper previously sprinted to second place over 100 meters. The double European champion ran 11.09 seconds, but had no chance against winner Marie-Josée Ta Lou from Ivory Coast. The Olympic fourth in Tokyo clearly won in 10.97 seconds. In the men’s world champion Fred Kerley from the USA won unchallenged in 9.94 seconds.
Malaika Mihambo finished fifth in the long jump at the start of the season. The Olympic champion and two-time world champion started with two invalid attempts. In the third she got 6.57 meters, which was her best distance. The Italian Larissa Iapichino won with 6.79 meters. In preparation, an infection had stopped Mihambo. At the World Cup in Budapest from August 19th to 27th, the 29-year-old is aiming for the title hat-trick.
Discus thrower Shanice Craft took a good third place with 64.47 meters. The 30-year-old from SV Halle was only beaten by Valarie Allman from the USA and Bin Feng from China. Allman threw 65.96 meters, Feng only five centimeters less.