Meseret Defar on her way to a win. © www.photorun.net
For the second time in four days, Meseret Defar came within a second of setting a world indoor record. The 26-year-old Ethiopian was hoping to improve her own 5,000m best at the GE Galan indoor track meet in Stockholm on Wednesday evening. That record time, 14:24.37 minutes, was set at the same event last year. A large crowd of nearly 10,000 spectators cheered Defar on as she ran a sizzling 14:24.79, achieving the second-fastest performance ever indoors. The Saturday before in Stuttgart, Defar went for another of her records—the 3,000m indoor record (8:23.72). She came very close to pulling it off, clocking 8:24.46.
Second place finisher Alemitu Bekele of Turkey broke the 11-year-old European record with 14:46.44 which had been held by Gabriela Szabo of Romania who ran 14:47.35 in Dortmund, Germany in 1999. The 32-year-old Bekele narrowly beat Sentayehu Ejigu of Ethiopia who ran 14:46.80. A German runner owns the third place on the European indoor list: Irina Mikitenko ran 14:55.99 in Dortmund in 2001. Ten years prior, Uta Pippig set a new world indoor record in Stuttgart with a time of 15:13,72 over the same distance.
In the men’s 3,000m in Stockholm, Augustine Choge of Kenya led the way with an impressive 7:31.75. Choge edged out Tariku Bekele (Ethiopia), the younger brother of world champion Kenenisa Bekele, by a mere three-hundredths-of-a-second. Augustine Choge’s win puts him in first place for the world rankings this year and also makes him the fifth-fastest 3,000-meter indoor runner in history. Fellow Kenyans Sammy Mutahi (7:32.02) and Paul Koech (7:32.78) finished third and fourth respectively. Bob Tahri of France took fifth in 7:33.73.
Bob Tahri and Sergio Sanchez Break European Indoor Records
Two long-distance European indoor records were broken this past weekend. On Sunday, Bob Tahri ran to a new 5,000m European indoor record in Metz, France. The 31-year-old local hero finished in 13:11.13 and improved the old record of Spaniard Alberto Garcia (13:11.39). Tahri also ran a good second faster than he did outdoors in 2007 over the same distance. During the 2009 World Championships held in Berlin, the steeplechase specialist won the 3,000m steeplechase bronze medal. Tahri owns the European record for this event as well.
Sergio Sanchez of Spain was the talk of the town in Valencia, Spain on Saturday night. In front of a hometown crowd, the 27-year-old broke the European 3,000m record, running 7:32.41. The previous record, 7:32.98, was also held Alberto Garcia. The final kilometer proved decisive with Sanchez covering the distance in blazing 2:26 minutes. Olympic steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto finished second in 7:42.99. Mohamed Moustaoui (Morocco/7:45.43) and the reigning European champion at 5,000m, Jesus Espana (7:45.60), finished third and fourth respectively.
