Nate Brannen sets Canadian 1000m record

Canadian Olympian Nate Brannen didn’t waste much time righting the ship after his run in London ended in a disastrous fall. The native of Cambridge, Ont. hit the track on Monday in Linz, Austria and threw down the fastest 1000m run ever run by a Canadian.

Brannen’s second place time of 2:16.52 took down Graham Hood‘s 16-year-old record. Hood, a two time Olympian who competed throughout the 1990’s, set the record with a 2:16.88 in Montreal in 1996.

Brannen had an eye on the record going into the race, still fit from his build-up to London. “I came in here going for Graham Hood’s Canadian record of 2:16.88 but also had a little something to prove after not being in the Olympic final,” Brannen wrote on his blog Monday night. “This is a good start and I’m really looking forward to my next two 1500s over here in Europe.”

Brannen will skip this week’s Diamond League event in Laussane in order to focus on a meet in Birmingham on Aug. 26, followed by the Berlin meet in early September.

Prior to the Olympics Brannen said he felt that he had the speed and endurance to run a personal best at the 1500m. The Canadian 1500m record is 3:31.71, held by Kevin Sullivan since 2000.

Brannen’s personal best stands at 3:34.22, which he ran earlier this summer in Hengelo leading up to the Olympics.