Hagos Gebrhiwet Nearly Breaks 5000m World Record at Bislett Games
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Hagos Gebrhiwet delivered a standout performance at the Bislett Games, securing a surprising and thrilling victory in the men's 5000m with a time of 12:36.73 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday (30). This remarkable achievement was one of three meeting records and five world-leading times set during an electrifying evening of athletics in the Norwegian capital, just two months before the Paris Olympic Games. The event also witnessed highlights such as Jacob Ingebrigsten's triumph in the 1500m, Alison dos Santos' victory over Karsten Warholm in the men's 400m hurdles, and World Champion Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic winning her third Diamond League race of the year with a season-best of 49.30.
Men's 5000m:
Hagos Gebrhiwet pulled away to run an impressive final lap and took the win in 12:36.73 in the men’s 5000 metres, setting the second fastest time in history, the meeting record. Gebrhwet broke the Ethiopian record held by Kenenisa Bekele with 12:37.35 since 2004. The Ethiopian athlete was just a second and a half short of Joshua Cheptegei’s world record set in Monaco in 2020.
Hagos Gebrhiwet: “The time I achieved is very nice. This is my second time running in Oslo I really like this city and this stadium. When I was here for the first time, I improved my PB. And now, it is even better. The conditions, the crowd were great, and it was a very fast race, not easy for me but it was going very well. The race had very nice guys. My friend Kejelcha is a very good guy. I will try 10000, maybe I will qualify in the 10000m at the Olympics so I want to compete there”
Thirteen athletes ran the 5000m in Oslo under the 13 minutes barrier in the best ever race over this distance for depth.
Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia finished second improving his PB to 12:38.95. Jacob Kiplimo improved his PB to 12:40.96 to take third place ahead of Thierry Ndikumweanyo from Spain (12:48.10 PB), Addisu Yihune from Ethiopia (12:49.65 PB), Luis Grijalva from Guatemala (12:50.58), Dominic Lobalu from Switzerland (12:50.90 NR), Andreas Almgren from Sweden (12:50.94 NR), Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda (12:51.94), Oscar Chelimo from Uganda (12:54.59), Jimmy Gressier from France (12:54.97 NR), Samuel Tefera (12:55.78) and Adriaan Wildschutt from South Africa (12:56.67 NR).
Men’s 400 metres hurdles:
Alison Dos Santos from Brazil, world champion in Eugene and in the Diamond League in 2022, won the men’s 400 metres hurdles for the second time in his career in Oslo in a world lead of 46.63. Dos Santos ran 0.01 faster than Raj Benjamin’s previous world lead of 46.64 in Los Angeles. The Brasilian hurdler set the second fastest time in his career. He ran quicker when he won the world title in Eugene in a South American record of 46.29.
Warholm set the European lead with 46.70, the fifth fastest of his career. The Norwegian athlete ran exactly this time when he broke the then world record in 2021.
Dos Santos started to gain on Warholm down the home straight. As Dos Santos drew level, Warholm hit the final hurdle. Dos Santos powered through the finish-line to win in 46.63, 0.11 shy of Warholm’s meeting record.
World silver medallist Kyron McMaster from British Virgin Islands placed third in 48.49 ahead of Rasmus Magi from Estonia (48.56).
Alison Dos Santos: “It felt good and I loved this track, the people and the energy. It is always good to come here, to come out and be able to win. It was a tough race, but I wanted to show I am there, I am ready and in good shape and that I can go even faster. I was excited about this race. I am excited about the next one to see how much I can do. The conditions were like a bit wet and it is the same for everyone”.
Karsten Warholm: “I am happy with the race but I always come to win. So there is no way around that. I hit the last hurdle quite badly, so that did not help and gives me a lot to do. There is plenty to work on. I am on a very good path. I went out fast and I am working on my new stride pattern and I was pleased with how that went today”.
Men’s 1500 metres:
Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen clinched a dramatic win in the 1500 metres in a world leading time of 3:29.74. Ingebrigtsen held the lead for much of the race, but he was challenged by Cheruiyot in the final 50 metres. Ingebrigtsen threw almost over the line to hold off Cheruiyot by 0.03 in a very close photo-finish. Azzedine Habz finished third in a seasonal best of 3:30.80 beating Isaac Nader, who improved his PB to 3:30.84. Elliot Giles from Great Britain finished fifth in 3:31.06 beating Oliver Hoare from Australia by 0.02. George Mills dipped under 3:32 with 3:31.57. Pietro Arese clocked 3:32.13 breaking Gennaro Di Napoli’s Italian record set in Rieti in 1990 with 3:32.78. The top 12 athletes ran under 3:34.
Jacob Ingebrigtsen: “I really do not think that it was the decision to dive into the finish-line because everything just happened so fast. It was a good race. I felt stronger than last time. It was all about my improvement and at the same time I wanted to do my best and to give the crowd the show. I can tell that I was getting sore in the last 50 metres. It is going to be an exciting summer. This crowd was cheering for all of us but at the same time they wanted a Norwegian victory”.
Men’s discus throw:
World record holder Mykolas Alenka from Lithuania set a meeting record of 70.91m in the second round to take the lead in the Final 3. Alekna chose not to take part in the Final 3 Last year’s Diamond League winner Matthew Denny took second place with 67.91m in the third round. Olympic and world champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden placed third with 66.80m ahead of Lukas Weisshaidinger from Austria (65.68m) and Kristjan Ceh from Slovenia (65.12m).
Mykolas Alekna: “This is an amazing stadium and a lot of people came here to watch so it was really fun to compete today. In a week I am going to defend my title and it is going to be fun too. I have always competing in Rome so I cannot wait to the European Championships. The next step would be to win the Diamond League title. There are so many good guys competing on the circuit and it is all about being consistent. My preparation has been going well and we still have a few months before Paris so I have to do as much as I can. I like competing and I am ready to throw far”.
Men’s 400 metres:
Matthew Hudson Smith from Great Britain won the men’s 400 metres improving his own European record by 0.19 to 44.07. Hudson Smith was just 0.02 off the world lead set by Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams, who clocked 44.05 in Gainesville on 11 May.
The British athlete had already set his previous area record of 44.26 in the semifinal of the World Championships in Budapest last year breaking Thomas Schonlebe’s long-standing mark set the 1987 World Championships in Rome.
Kirani James, winner in Oslo in 2022, placed second in a seasonal best of 44.58. Olympic 4x400 relay champion Vernon Norwood from the USA took third place in 44.68.
Matthew Hudson Smith: “I was not sure what shape I was in. The time did not matter in a way as I care about victories rather than times and preparing for the Olympics. At the end of the day times are temporary but medals are forever. I really want away from Paris with a medal. This year I am healthy so that gives me confidence as last year I came into the season from tendonitis in my achilles so I had a very up and down season and it was bittersweet to get so close to the gold after the injury”
Women’s 400 metres:
World champion Marileidy Paulino from Dominican Republic won her third Diamond League race this year with a seasonal best of 49.30. World silver medallist Natalia Kaczmarek finished second dipping under the 50 seconds barrier with a European seasonal lead of 49.80. World indoor bronze medallist Alexis Holmes from the USA placed third in 50.40.
Women’s 3000 metres:
Georgia Griffith from Australia won the women’s 3000 metres improving the meeting record and her PB to 8:24.20 in a great race where the top six athletes dipped under the 8:30 barrier. Likina Amebaw from Ethiopia smashed her PB to 8:24.29. Jessica Hull finished third with 8:25.82 ahead of Maureen Koster from the Netherlands (8:26.30), Karoline Grovdal from Norway (8:27.02) and Marta Garcia from Spain (8:29.32). Nine of the top 10 athletes set their PBs.
Georgia Griffith: “I am still new 3000m. I do a lot of 1500m so I usually kick too soon and I kind of die in the final 50 metres. I really tried to hold back until the last 100 metres and I got lucky with my kick and finished strong”.
Men’s 100 metres:
Two-time Olympic finalist Akani Simbine stormed to his second Diamond League win this season with 9.94. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown from Japan also dipped under the 10 seconds to finish second in a seasonal best of 9.99 ahead of Emmanuel Eseme from Cameroon (10.01) and Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, who improved his seasonal best by 0.04 to 10.03.
Akani Simbine: “It ended up in the rain which probably influenced the race but at the end of the day we all have to run the 100m rain or not and get to the line first. I did that today which I am happy with but I have to work on and a lot to do. I am happy with my performance and hope there will be more highlights coming up as we build towards the Olympic Games”.
Women’s discus throw:
China’s Feng Bin took the lead with 65.69m in her opening round and improved her mark to a seasonal best of 67.89m in the second round. Two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic Elkasevic went to second with 66.48m in the third round. Italian record holder Daisy Osakue qualified for the Final 3 with a first round effort of 63.29m beating last year’s Oslo Diamond League winner Jorinde Van Klinken, who produced her best throw of 63.16m in the fourth round.
Women’s 800 metres:
Prudence Sekgodiso from South Africa claimed her second win in the 800 metres in the Diamond League this season with 1:58.66 following her victory in Marrakesh. Natoya Goule Toppin from Jamaica took runner-up in 1:59.10 ahead of Catriona Bisset from Australia (1:59.29) and Elena Bellò from Italy (2:00.05).
Men’s pole vault:
KC Lightfoot was the only man to clear 5.82m in the men’s pole vault. Lightfoot had a clean sheet by clearing 5.42m, 5.62m, 5.72m and 5.82m in the first attempt. Lightfoot failed three attempts at 5.90m. Emmanouil Karalis from Greece and Ernest John Obiena cleared 5.72m on their second attempt to share second place. Sam Kendricks finished fourth with 5.72m beating Bo Kanda Lita Baehre on countback.
KC Lightfoot: “It was good out there. I really do not normally jump in the rain. When I did my last couple of jumps, the rain started and the last poles were greasy but I did OK. I never come into a competition thinking I will win, but that is just me. I am pleased it was a good day. It is great to have my compatriots here cheering me on”.
Men’s triple jump:
World indoor and outdoor champion Fabrice Hugues Zango took the lead with 17.27m in the fourth round in the men’s triple jump and held on to take the win. Yasser Tricki, who won in Oslo in 2021, came very close to the win with a jump of 17.25m in the sixth round. Lazaro Martinez placed third with 16.85m in his final attempt.
Fabrice Zango: “I did not know that the stadium would be full today. The crowd was amazing. I love jumping there. This gave me so much motivation for the next time. The competition was going well. I had to stay focused and be really careful about the the next step for the next season. We all think about Paris, but today jumping 17.27m was really good and it shows that my preparation was going very well. I want to become the next African champion and have the championships coming up.”
Women’s 200 metres:
Britany Brown, world silver medallist in Doha 2019, stormed past Marie Josée Ta Lou from Ivory Coast in the eighth lane in the final 50 metres to take the win in the 200 metres in a seasonal best 22.32. Ta Lou placed in a seasonal best of 22.36. Daryil Neita from Great Britain, winner in Suzhou in 22.62, took third place improving her seasonal best to 22.50 ahead of Anavia Battle (22.84). Double world champion Shericka Jackson had to settle with fifth place in 22.97.
Britany Brown: “I had confidence coming into this race. I knew I could win and I did what my coach told me to do. I feel strong and I have come along way so I feel really good. Today was really nice and now I will probably have ice cream to celebrate. I will head back into training before the Trials and it’s all about making sure I make the team for Paris.”
