Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei was the big star of the event Diamond League, which takes place in Monaco, by winning the 5,000 meters in 12 minutes and 35.36 seconds to surpass the world record that had been in force since 2004.
Some of the best athletes demonstrated this Friday in Monaco what their sport has missed in the biggest international events of the season outdoors due to the pandemic.
In addition to the record, the eighth fastest time of all time was recorded in another test. A teenager ran to establish a European brand. And there were several world-class performances.
After the break, it was striking that a world record set 16 years ago was broken.
“Monaco is a special place and it is one of the places where it could beat the mark”, said Cheptegei, who has trained this year in Uganda and not in Europe.
The resumption of athletics after the long suspension due to the coronavirus on Friday produced another victory for Yulimar Rojas. The Venezuelan was very far from her best marks, but this was enough to take the triple jump test in the match of the Diamond League, with a jump of 14.27 meters in his best execution – his personal best outdoors was set last year, with 15.41-.
The Venezuelan star, the favorite to win gold in the Olympic Games that were postponed to next year in Tokyo, beat the Bulgarian Gabriela Petrova, who registered 14.18 meters and the Portuguese Patricia Mamona who jumped 14.08.
The American Noah Lyles, world champion in the 200 meters, came as the biggest attraction and had the best time of the year to win in 19.76 seconds.
World champion Karsten Warholm asked the Monaco promoters to add the 400-meter hurdles event. The Norwegian athlete found a sponsor to cover the costs and it paid off by equaling the eighth best mark in history. He finished with a time of 47.10 seconds.
Another young Norwegian, Jakob Ingebrigsten, 19-year-old set a European record in the 1,500 meters with 3: 28.68 minutes -0.13 seconds faster than the British Mo Farah in this same place in 2013-.
Among the best times in the world in 2020, the world champion Donovan Brazier finished in 1: 43.15 minutes in the 800 meters. He was 0.08 seconds ahead of his compatriot the American Bryce Hoppel.
Armand Duplantis, from Sweden won the pole vault with a mark of 6.00 meters -18 centimeters below the world record he set in February. His main adversary, the American world champion Sam Kendricks, had to withdraw because his pole did not arrive.
Up to 5,000 fans with social distancing were allowed to enter the stadium, which has capacity for 16,000 people. The shortened circuit of the Diamond League It will continue on August 23 in Stockholm.
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