Gebrselassie, of Ethiopia, set his 22nd world record by covering 21.28km — a little more than 53 laps — in 60 minutes. The mark had stood at 21.10km for 16 years to Arturo Barrios, of Mexico, largely because it is a rarely-run event. But, Gebrselassie, 34, was determined to bring the record into the 21st century and this he did despite an unhelpful breeze.

After failing in his attempt to win a third successive Olympic 10,000 metres title, at the 2004 Games in Athens, Gebrselassie concentrated his efforts on road running but has been frustrated in a sequence of unsuccessful assaults on the marathon world record. Only two months ago, stomach cramps prevented him from finishing the Flora London Marathon.

However, returning to the track after two seasons away, having said in 2004 that he was quitting, Gebrselassie ran an impressive 26min 52.81sec for 10,000 metres last month. It was clear from this that Barrios’s mark would be vulnerable and it never looked in doubt last night as Gebrselassie knocked out the laps at 68sec a time.

For another world record to fall soon, all eyes are on Tyson Gay in the 100 metres. Gay, 24, of the United States, has outstripped such legends as Carl Lewis, Maurice Greene and Frankie Fredericks as the fastest 100/200 metres combination sprinter in history and Craig Pickering, Great Britain’s new young hope, expects him to be the next holder of the 100 metres world record.

At the beginning of the month, Gay recorded 9.76sec, inside Asafa Powell’s world record of 9.77, but assisted by a marginally illegal tailwind. Last weekend, at the US Championships in Indianapolis, he clocked 9.84 into a headwind and ran 200 metres in 19.62, which is second only to Michael Johnson’s world record of 19.32.

Speaking yesterday, shortly before running in Ostrava, Pickering said that Gay was “easily capable of running 9.70”. He was responding to questioning over whether he felt that, having won the European Cup title at 20 in Munich last weekend, he might be ready to take on the Americans come the Olympics next year.

Pickering improved his career-best time to 10.15 in Munich, but he has no intention of feeding the jaws of a media hungry to raise expectation beyond that which is reasonable. A sensible target for him is to make the Olympic 100 metres semi-finals in Beijing next summer and be part of a 4 x 100 metres team who can challenge for a medal.

“My next goal is to run under 10.10sec then under 10.00,” Pickering said. “There are loads of Americans who have run quicker than me — Walter Dix is my age and he has run 9.93 this season — so I have a lot of catching up to do. There are loads of steps along the way, but, hopefully, I will be there in a few years’ time.”

Pickering’s next step is the European Under-23 Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, starting a fortnight today. On the instructions of Malcolm Arnold, his coach, and with no resistance from the athlete, Pickering will be thrown back into age-group competition after two successful forays into Europe as a senior.

Having won the European junior title in 2005, Pickering took the silver medal in the senior European Indoor Championships in Birmingham in March and saw off the opposition by a comfortable margin in Munich. Now Debrecen calls, as it does for Jessica Ennis, one of the world’s leading senior heptathletes, who will compete in the high jump and 100 metres hurdles.