On Saturday, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the world 800m silver medallist, made his mile debut at the adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany and set a new world record with a time of 3:54.5*. The 19-year-old Kenyan runner surpassed the previous world record of 3:56.13 set by USA’s Hobbs Kessler at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 in October. Despite celebrating before crossing the finish line, Wanyonyi was able to secure the new record. Kessler finished second with a time of 3:56.1, while South Africa’s Ryan Mphahlele came third with a time of 3:56.4.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Marco Arop won the rare road 800m event with a time of 1:45, defeating Wanyonyi who finished second in this event last year at the world championships in Budapest. In addition to these races, there were also women’s events including Medina Eisa who set a new record for the women U20 5000m champion with a time of 14:38. This was also the fastest ever women’s road 5km by an U20 athlete.
Agnes Ngetich narrowly missed breaking the women-only world record for 10km by running a time of 30:03, just two seconds shy of Agnes Tirop’s record set at this same event in