Moroccan Abdelati El Guesse Sets 800m World Lead in Lyon
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At the Meeting Indoor de Lyon on Friday, Feb. 9, a highlight of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver level meeting, Abdelati El Guesse of Morocco led the men's 800m, setting the fastest time of the year globally with a 1:45.28 performance. He narrowly defeated Spain's Mohamed Attaoui, the European U23 1500m silver medalist, who set a new personal record of 1:45.59, marking the fastest time by a European in 2024. Álvaro de Arriba from Spain, a former European indoor champion, secured third place with a time of 1:47.05, opening his season strongly. El Guesse returned to the track after taking 2nd place in 1:46:22 at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun on Tuesday.
The men's 1500m race was electrifying, with Italy's Ossama Meslek, the newly established Italian record holder in short track, clinching victory in a tight finish. He overtook South Africa's Ryan Mphahlele, who had led confidently, to win by a mere 0.05 seconds in 3:38.01, setting a new meeting record in the process.
In the women's 1500m, Italian athletes Marta Zenoni and Ludovica Cavalli battled fiercely, with Zenoni pulling ahead at the last moment to win by 0.02 seconds in a meeting record time of 4:08.92. Tuğba Danişmaz of Türkiye and Neja Filipic of Slovenia showcased their talent in the triple jump, with Danişmaz reaching a season-best of 14.10m to win.
The men's long jump saw Germany's Simon Batz set a new personal best and meeting record with an 8.18m jump, surpassing his previous best significantly.
Sarah Madeleine of France triumphed in the women's 3000m, setting another meeting record with her time of 8:53.51. She made an incredible comeback to overtake Klara Lukan of Slovenia in the final moments.
Attila Molnár of Hungary narrowly won the men's 400m with a meeting record time of 46.43, closely followed by France's Yann Spillmann who achieved a personal best. The 60m hurdles saw victories for Spain's Xenia Benach and Finland's Elmo Lakka, who faced the challenge of multiple race restarts.
