LONDON (England) – Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a world record for the indoor 2,000 meters of four minutes, 49.99 seconds on Saturday, beating a nine-year-old mark of Haile Gebrselassie.
When Haile set a world 2000m record of 4:52.86 at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena in 1998 it was considered a fine mark and a record that would last for years – not least because the distance is not often attempted. But Bekele made mincemeat of Geb’s figures this afternoon when he clocked 4:49.99 to provide the highlight of an action-packed programme.
Bekele was paced through the first kilometre in 2:25.82, shadowed by Kenya’s Shadrack Korir, and set off on his own with three laps to go. He clipped through the bell with a five metre lead and stormed home to eclipse the record by almost three seconds.
Others may have thought it was tough, but there was never any doubt in Bekele’s mind, as the Ethiopian said afterwards: “I am very happy to break the World (best) but I knew before today that I was going to do it. I’ve been feeling so good in training. Now I am going to Stockholm next week where I hope to break the World 3000m record.”
Bekele, who broke the World 5000m record in this arena in 2004, added: “I always seem to break records when I come here. It is a very special track. I really like it here in Birmingham.”
Bekele may have been the star but there were special runs by athletes pulled along behind him. Korir broke the Kenyan record in second with 4:55.72, while Remi Limo became the fastest ever junior over this distance with 4:59.02 in fourth, and all six finishers set PBs.
