Olympic and World 3,000m steeplechase silver medallist Lamecha Girma from Ethiopia on Wednesday shattered Daniel Komen’s 25-year-old 3,000m indoor world record.
The 22-year-old, who claimed silver in 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia last year, clocked seven minutes and 23.81 seconds to win at Meeting Lievin Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais on Wednesday in France.
Girma, chased down by Mohamed Katir from Spain managed to shave off 1.09 seconds from Komen’s set during the Budapest Samsung Cup on February 6, 1998 in Budapest, Hungary.
Girma’s counterpart Getnet Wale came close to breaking the world record at the same event last year but fell short, clocking 2:24:98.
However, Komen still holds the outdoor 3,000m world record of 7:20.67 set on September 1, 1996 in Rieti, Italy.
Back in 2006, Komen promised to give any Kenyan a new Mercedes Benz if he broke the world record in 3,000m outdoor and any non-Kenyan one acre of prime land in Eldoret.
