The world indoor 1500m record set by Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin last month has been ratified, Athletics' chief body announced on Thursday.
Running 3:30.60 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais on 17 February, Norway's Olympic champion took almost half a second off the previous record of 3:31.04 that had been run by Ethiopia's Samuel Tefera in Birmingham on 16 February 2019.
Paced by Julien Ranc, and then Erik Sowinski, Ingebrigtsen passed through 600m in 1:24.66 and 800m in 1:52.86. He reached 1000m in 2:20.98, bang on target, and then started to pick up the pace for the final two laps. By the time he reached the bell in 3:03.04, he had opened up a significant gap on his one remaining opponent: Tefera.
Ingebrigtsen covered the final lap in 27.57 seconds, reaching the finish line in 3:30.60 to take 0.44 off Tefera's record. Tefera finished second in 3:33.70 and Spain's Ignacio Fontes was a distant third in 3:37.39.
"I wanted to break the world indoor record last year, even though it wasn't the main goal then," said Ingebrigtsen, who set a European indoor record of 3:31.80 when winning in Lievin in 2021.
"I want to improve and run faster than I have done before. It's everyone's dream to win championships and beat records. This is my first world record; hopefully more will come, but this is a big dream come true."
He will next race at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 where he will again go head-to-head with Tefera, the defending champion, in the 1500m.
( With inputs from ANI )
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