Arto Bryggare analyzes the Paris Diamond League events.
The late evening of the Paris Diamond League on Friday was a pompous and even unbelievable event, as the third ME result was Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girman 7.52.11 in the men’s 3,000m hurdles.
Norway also set world records in France Jakob Ingebrigtsen by two miles and of Kenya Faith Kipyegon in the women’s 5,000 meters.
– An astonishing world record from Girman. I don’t want to take anything away from the man from Ethiopia, but obviously the track and the new carbon fiber shoes matter. When Saif Saaeed Shaheen pulled the 2004 previous ME, there was all kinds of speculation how it was tuned. It was such a terrible time then, says Iltalehti’s athletics expert Arto Bryggare.
– There were obviously great conditions in Paris, when there was no wind, and it was not sunny, but it was warm, he adds.
Qatari Shaheen’s ME was 7:53.63
Girma’s old record from last summer was 7:58.68.
– Girma now ran the ME, but no he is not the WC favorite in August in Budapest, Bryggare announces.
Why not?
– Soufiane El Bakkali is so damn hard. Bakkali comes after Girma and passes by at the end. Girma will become a legendary silver medalist, whose speed endurance is of a terrible class, but superkiri is missing. In addition, Bakkali is more technically proficient.
Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali (record 7:56.68 this season) is the reigning 3,000m world champion and Olympic champion.
Girma has three consecutive silver medals from prestigious competitions: from the World Championships in Doha 2019, from the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and from the World Championships in Eugene 2022.
Raitanen’s disappointment
Lamecha Girma set a new world record in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase. PDO
Top Raitanen saw the ME run up close, as he clocked the domestic season’s top result of 8:22.00 in the same event.
– Taking into account that the team set national records and the conditions were great, the time does not bode terribly well, Bryggare estimates.
Raitanen’s record in the hurdles is 8:16.57 from 2020.
– I definitely expected a time under 8:20 from Top.
The Finn was 13/16 in Friday’s race. Four European runners made it to the front.
The best of the season for Murro
Wilma Murto crossed 461. Stock image. PDO
Wilma Murto finished fourth in the women’s pole vault on Friday in the Paris Diamond League with a domestic season-high score of 461.
Murto went over 431 with his first, fell once from the height of 446, went over 461 with the first, until the height of 471 was three times too much.
– 461 was a good jump. The run was no longer aggressive enough at altitude 471. The jumps did not continue and there were technical errors on how to get to the pit. There was a lot to improve, but clearly better than in the previous Diamond Leagues of the season, commented Bryggare.
Australia won Paris Nina Kennedy (477), the other was French Margot Chevrier (471) and the third from the USA Katie Moon (471).
The competition was the Finn’s fourth of the season on outdoor tracks. Previous results have been 430 (Dohan Diamond League), 455 (Turu National) and 451 (Florence Diamond League).
The prodigy in action
Norway’s prodigy Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new two-mile world record in Paris on Friday. EPA / AOP
Norwegian prodigy Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran a less frequently contested two-mile ME time of 7:54.10 in Paris.
The last ME was Kenya’s by Daniel Komen 7.58.61 from 1997.
Two miles is 3,218.688 meters. It is not a race distance, and two miles is not considered an official race distance.
– It’s not like two miles to compete in practice, and the world record doesn’t belong in the same series as Friday’s other two, says Bryggare.
– But when you run under eight minutes, it’s a mega time. It is very difficult to beat the Norwegian at 5,000 meters because there are fewer men with a long streak like him. 1,500 meters is a more challenging distance for him, the expert continues.
The 22-year-old Norwegian is the 1,500-meter Olympic champion and World Championship runner-up. Last season, he won the 5,000m World Championship gold in Eugene.
A week ago, the 1,500 meter ME time was made by Kenya Faith Kipyegon rushed to a new world record of 14.05.20 on Friday in the 5,000 meters.
– There is no problem with that, SpongeBob Nurmi pulled two ME results every hour. The Kenyan’s result is terribly hard. When the Chinese made ME results in endurance running in the 1990s, it was said that no one would break them. Well, it’s broken. Of course, spike and platform development play a role. Kipyegon has an awfully tough streak. He could even go 10,000 meters hard.
The odd Olympic champion
The situation of Marcel Jacobs, the men’s 100-meter sprint Olympic champion, raises doubts. PDO
The always electrifying men’s 100m sprint was won by the USA in Paris Noah Lyles with a time of 9.97. The headwind was 0.9 meters per second.
– It’s a bit difficult for a 200 meter runner to start at 100 – it’s been that way all season. Lyles has superior top speed. I bet even the top speed of all time. But the acceleration is lame compared to the top men of the hundred, Bryggare says in Finnish.
Italy, who sensationally won the hundredth Olympic gold in Tokyo 2021 Marcel Jacobs opened his 2023 outdoor track season modestly with a time of 10.21 and was next to last.
– When there is an injury in the background, he is physically far from what he has been at his best.
The competition was only the fifth for Jacobs after the August 2021 Olympic gold.
– He is a former long jumper, so his extensive training background is quite light. It can be one factor behind the injuries. The big dude has a tight hip. A bit like With Usain Bolt back in the day: when the back started to travel, the big guy couldn’t stay together.
The Italian’s lack of competition has sparked speculation.
– I don’t think that he is such an idiot or that there is such a stupid group of people in his close circle that they would start messing around with substances. In Italy, you go to prison for doping.