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World, area and national records fall at World Athletics indoor meet in France

Tuesday's meet in Liévin, France, saw some of the biggest runs of 2021

The 2021 World Athletics Indoor Tour continued on Tuesday, and it produced some of the best results of the season so far, with world, area and national records falling in a number of races. From Grant Holloway‘s North American record in the 60m hurdles up to Gudaf Tsegay‘s 1,500m world record and thrilling 3,000m races, the meet was packed with impressive performances. 

Holloway’s record run

Going into Tuesday’s race, Holloway was third on the all-time 60mH list and his PB of 7.35 seconds was the American record. He crushed the rest of the field in Liévin and took the win in 7.32 seconds, climbing to second place all-time in the world (just 0.02 seconds off Colin Jackson‘s 7.30 world indoor record from 1994) and topping the list in North America with a new area record. Pretty funny to think that not too long ago, a football fan tweeted at Holloway and told him that he wasn’t a world-class athlete.

1,500m madness 

In the men’s 1,500m, which ran about an hour before the women’s race, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen beat his closest competitor by five seconds. He took the win in 3:31.80, smashing his previous PB by four seconds, setting a new European record and reaching fifth place on the all-time indoor 1,500m rankings. 

RELATED: Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Gudaf Tsegay break 1,500m records at French indoor meet

Not long after Ingebrigtsen’s huge run, the women took to the track, and much like in the men’s race, it was a blowout. Ethiopia’s Tsegay ran away with the win in 3:53.09, shattering her PB by a whopping seven seconds and beating the world record by more than two seconds. While second-place Laura Muir finished well back of Tsegay, she still managed to break the British 1,500m record, eking out a sub-four-minute run in 3:59.58 to beat Jemma Reekie‘s previous record of 4:00.52. Muir now owns both the British indoor and outdoor 1,500m records. 

Exciting 3,000m races 

The women’s 3,000m didn’t see any big records, but it was still exciting to watch. Ethiopia’s Lemlem Hailu took the win in a PB of 8:32.55, one second ahead of Dutch runner and multiple world and European record holder Sifan Hassan, who finished in 8:33.62. Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech rounded out the podium in a PB of 8:34.21. 

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The men’s race saw multiple historic finishes. Getnet Wale of Ethiopia grabbed the win in 7:24.98, finishing just 0.08 seconds off the world record of 7:24.90, which Kenya’s Daniel Komen set in 1998. Wale now sits in second all-time on the indoor 3,000m list, and three of his compatriots joined him in the top 10 with their runs in France. All from Ethiopia, Selemon Barega (7:26.10), Lamecha Girma (7:27.98) and Berihu Aregawi (7:29.24) finished in second, third and fourth behind Wale, earning spots high in the world rankings. 

For full results from Liévin, click here

RELATED: British champ sets world U20 indoor 800m record with 1:59.03 run in Austria

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