Jakob Ingebrigtsen breaks world record in 2,000m at Brussels Diamond League

As if to prove that he is still the best middle-distance runner in the world despite losing the 1,500m final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Aug. 23, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic champion over 1,500m, broke the 2,000m world record on Friday at the Brussels Diamond League meet, running 4:43.13 to take more than a second off Hicham El Guerrouj’s previous record, set in 1999. 

WORLD RECORD

🇳🇴's Jakob Ingebrigtsen flies to the fastest 2000m in history as he smashes Hicham El Guerrouj's world record by more than a second with 4:43.13 🔥#DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/SX6dNBSrFg

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 8, 2023

Assisted by Wavelight technology, Ingebrigtsen also had three human pacers on the track; he was barely ahead of the lights at one mile (his split was 3:48.13), but had opened up a gap well before the bell. He reached 800m in exactly the same time as El Guerrouj (1:53), and closed his final 400m with a 55-second final lap.

Numerous other national and area records were also set, including by Canada’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who smashed his own Canadian record of 4:56.88 and set a new North American record of 4:51.54. (Philibert-Thiboutot finished eighth.) Reynold Cheruiyot finished second, in a national record for Kenya of 4:48.14. Australia’s Stewart McSweyn was third, in an Oceania area record of 4:48.77. National records were also set by Niels Laros of the Netherlands, Mario García of Spain and Ruben Verheyden of Belgium.

After the race, Ingebrigtsen shrugged, as if breaking the record was a foregone conclusion. He’d been notably irritated after losing the 1,500m to Team Great Britain’s Josh Kerr at the world championships, indicating he’d been sick with a cold and wasn’t able to perform at his best. It was the second consecutive world championship 1,500m race he had lost (the 2022 final was won by Jake Wightman, also of Team GB).

The 2,000m is considered an off-distance and is rarely run, which is one reason the record has stood since before the new record-holder, Ingebrigtsen, was born.

For full results from Friday’s Brussels Diamond League, click here.