Emmanuel Wanyonyi broke the world road mile record, but the way he did was remarkable. Despite celebrating prematurely on his way to the finish line, the 19-year-old Kenyan made it a road mile debut to remember with a stunning time of 3:54.56 at the adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany, on Saturday (27).
The silver medalist in the 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last summer, surpassed the previous world record of 3:56.13, set by USA’s Hobbs Kessler at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 in October.
In fact, it was Kessler, who finished second behind Wanyonyi with a time of 3:56.18, while Ryan Mphahlele from South Africa claimed the third spot with a time of 3:56.45.
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Wanyonyi found himself at the front of the pack early on, thanks to a fast pace set by the pacemaker. Despite Kessler’s efforts to challenge him, Wanyonyi maintained his lead and ultimately surged ahead to clinch the victory in world record time.
Reflecting on his historic achievement, Wanyonyi expressed his joy and gratitude, stating on World Athletics, “I feel so happy for today. It’s not easy, but I tried to push myself. My coach told me it was possible to break the world record.”
The event in Herzogenaurach also witnessed other notable performances, including Canada’s world champion Marco Arop winning the rare road 800m in 1:44:30 and Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir claiming victory in the elite women’s mile with a time of 4:30.93.
USA’s world indoor champion Bryce Hoppel finished second to Arop in the 800m with a time of 1:45.60, while fellow American Addison Wiley crossed the line second in the women’s elite women’s mile at 4:31.90.
Elsewhere, Agnes Ngetich of Kenya came close to breaking the women-only 10km race world record, clocking 30:03 to lead a Kenyan podium as Margaret Chelimo (30:39) and Jesca Chelangat (30:46) getting second and third, respectively.
Additionally, Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa set a new record for the fastest women’s road 5km by an U20 athlete with a time of 14:38, while Yomif Kejelcha won the men’s 5km with 13:00 and Nicholas Kipkorir secured the 10km title on the men’s side with 27:05.