Weekend recap: Hassan runs world record, Canadians continue to chase Olympic standard

The past weekend saw a couple of big names in the world of track and field hop into races as Sifan Hassan and Mo Farah competed in 10,000m races in their home countries of the Netherlands and Great Britain, respectively. Hassan had the race of her life, running an amazing 29:06.82 in Hengelo to smash the 10,000m world record by more than 10 seconds, while Farah had less success and failed to qualify for the Olympic Games. On top of those runs, more Canadians were in action as they continued to chase Olympic standard. For those results and more, here’s the weekend recap.

Hassan’s world record 

Hassan entered Sunday’s race in Hengelo with a 10,000m PB of 29:36.67, which was the fourth-fastest result of all time. She ran that PB in October 2020, also in Hengelo, but poor weather prevented her from getting close to the world record, which belonged to Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana at 29:17.45. 

WORLD RECORD@SifanHassan breaks the women's 10,000m world record with 29:06.82 at the @ContiTourGold.

She beats the previous record by over 10 seconds.#ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/pH7E2gK7f4

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) June 6, 2021

After starting the race on Sunday slightly behind Ayana’s record pace, Hassan found her groove and picked things up, eventually averaging 2:55 per kilometre for the entirety of the 25-lap race. Her final kilometre was a blazing-fast 2:45, and she crossed the line with an enormous PB and the fastest 10,000m in history. 

RELATED: Sifan Hassan runs 29:06.82 to shatter 10,000m world record in Hengelo

Farah falls short 

A day before Hassan’s triumph in the Netherlands, Farah lined up to race the British 10,000m Championships in Birmingham. The event was his first time racing 10,000m since 2017, back when he won gold at the world championships in London. Unfortunately, Farah’s race on Saturday came nowhere close to his last race, and he finished in a disappointing eighth place in 27:50.64. His result is 22 seconds off the Olympic standard of 27:28.00, and he now has less than a month to qualify for the Tokyo Games.

RELATED: Mo Farah finishes 8th at British 10,000m Championships, misses Olympic standard

World-leading 100m races 

Also on Saturday, Trayvon Bromell of the U.S. and Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce both ran to world-leading 100m results. Competing in Miramar, Fla., Bromell bettered his PB of 9.84 seconds from 2015 with a 9.77 run. This is the fastest time of 2021 by far, and it also gives Bromell the seventh-fastest result of all time over 100m. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPwVk–lmGk/

Fraser-Pryce ran her world-leading result in Kingston, Jamaica, where she crushed the rest of the women’s field. She crossed the line in 10.63 seconds, lowering a 100m PB of 10.70 that she set all the way back in 2012. Fraser-Pryce’s time not only gives her the fastest time of the year, but it also moves her up to second all-time in the 100m, and she now sits behind the world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner, who ran 10.49 seconds in 1988. 

Canadian results 

Several Canadians were in action this weekend, with many racing at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tenn. Bismark Boateng raced the 100m on Sunday in Nashville, where he ended up in sixth place in 10.62 seconds. Mohand Khelaf was the lone Canadian in the men’s 800m, and he finished in seventh in 1:48.57. Maddy Price ran a season best of 52.86 in the 400m, earning a fifth-place finish, and in the 400m hurdles, Sage Watson ran onto the podium with a third-place run in 56.04. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPv_NibMUqc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

In the men’s 1,500m, Kevin Robertson and William Paulson finished in seventh and ninth, respectively, running 3:40.48 and 3:41.31, and Nate Riech ran 3:54.09 in a separate race. In the women’s 1,500m, Natalia Hawthorn had another stellar performance, and although she missed out on the Olympic standard of 4:05.20 (which she hit on Thursday in Portland), she managed to make it onto the podium with a 4:06.63 run. Kate Van Buskirk finished in fifth, just behind Hawthorn in 4:08.76. 

RELATED: Natalia Hawthorn ties Olympic standard at Stumptown Twilight

Finally, in the men’s mile in Nashville, Canada’s Michael Coccia broke four minutes for the first time, crossing the line in 3:59.90 for third place. At the meet in Miramar, Marco Arop took the win in the men’s 800m, running 1:44.93. 

For full results from Nashville, click here, and for Florida results, click here.