European 5000m silver medallist and European indoor 3000m champion Adel Mechaal took the European indoor 3000m record apart at the New Balance Indoor GP in New York on Sunday [February 6].
Mechaal clocked 7:30.82 – a time which surpassed Spaniard Sergio Sánchez’s previous European indoor record of 7:32.41 from 2010 – in a race which saw the 31-year-old hit the front a third of the way through and such was his dominance there was never much doubt the rest of the field could catch him.
Extraordinary, given the race saw three national records and nine personal bests.
Just some of those personal bests included the British trio of Andrew Butchart, Jake Wightman and Thomas Mortimer. Butchart finished second with 7:37.42, Wightman fourth with 7:37.81 and Mortimer in seventh with 7:40.97.
Mechaal was not the only Spanish athlete to set a national indoor record in New York though.
In the men’s 800m, Mariano Garcia was victorious with a world leading 1:45.12. The previous Spanish indoor record over the distance was set by Antonio Manuel Reina who clocked 1:45.25 in 2002.
Spain’s success at the New Balance GP didn’t stop there as Esther Guerrero claimed victory in the women’s 1500m with the cross country specialist clocking 4:11.87. Britain’s Erin Wallace, who finished sixth, set a personal best with 4:13.96.
Source: AW
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