Ostrava (Czech Republic), June 28: Twice Olympic 10,000 meters champion Haile Gebrselassie broke the world one-hour and 20 kilometers marks at the “Golden Spike” grand prix athletics meeting on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old Ethiopian ran 21.285 km in 60 minutes to surpass Mexican Arturo Barrios’s previous mark of 21.101 km, set in La Fleche, France, on March 30, 1991.
On the way, he also broke the 20-km world mark of 56 minutes 55.60 seconds, set by Barrios during his run in 1991. Gebrselassie clocked 56:25.98.
“When I arrived at the stadium I was worried about the wind but it died down. At that moment I was thinking I could break the (one-hour) record,” a smiling Gebrselassie told by the finish line. “I felt comfortable the whole way.”
In her first race since breaking the women’s 5,000 meters world record, fellow Ethiopian Meseret Defar ran a measured race over the distance to win in 14 minutes 30.18 seconds, well outside her 14:16.63 record.
Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva easily won the women’s pole vault at 4.66 meters but was also well short in her bid to break her own world record of 5.01 meters.
“I don’t know why I jumped so poorly. I wanted to jump higher and beat the world record but I just couldn’t do it,” Isinbayeva said.
Britain’s Craig Pickering, establishing himself as one of Europe’s top sprinters, cruised to victory in the men’s 100 meters in 10.16, one-tenth of a second off his personal best.
The 20-year-old, who won the 100 in the European Cup in Munich last weekend, has a busy schedule with Monday’s meeting in Athens and the European Under-23 championships after that.
“I ran a technically good race. My form has been improving steadily and I feel I can run even faster in Athens next week,” Pickering said. He said he was confident Britain could win the 4×100 meters relay at August’s world championships in Osaka.
U.S. world champion Michelle Perry had a less than happy ending to her day when she had a false start, the second in the 100 meters hurdles final after Slovak Miriam Bobkova had the first, and was automatically disqualified.
Gebrselassie, the best distance runner of his era, retired from track running to concentrate on the marathon after the 2004 Athens Olympics.
In preparation for Wednesday’s record attempt he made a surprise return to the track in the Dutch town of Hengelo last month, clocking 26:52.91 in a 10,000 meters.
“Today is just fantastic day,” he said.
Gebrselassie is one of only three men to win consecutive Olympic 10,000 meters titles, the second at the 2000 Sydney Games providing an indelible image when he just held off the frenzied challenge of his great Kenyan rival, Paul Tergat.
He set 17 world records before his 2004 retirement from the track and has since broken a further three road records plus Wednesday’s double on the Ostrava track.