Farah edges Abdi by an 8-meter margin at AG Memorial Van Damme to eclipse Gebrselassie’s record, with Hassan pulling away late from Kosgei to shatter Tune’s old mark by more than a full lap, only for marathon world-record holder to later be disqualified for stepping on inside rail in Diamond League debut 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The quest for a pair of one-hour world records Friday in Belgium came down to determined sprints in the final minute from two of the sport’s best closers.

Dutch star Sifan Hassan and Great Britain’s Mo Farah both eclipsed records that had stood for more than a decade to open and close the competition at the AG Memorial Van Damme, the annual Wanda Diamond League meeting at King Baudoin Stadium in Brussels.

Farah, competing in his first track race in more than three years, narrowly prevailed against Belgium’s Bashir Abdi by a margin of 21,330 to 21,322 meters, both eclipsing the 2007 mark of 21,285 meters achieved by Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic.

“My first meet back on the track was what was driving me. I knew I was in great shape after the hard work I did in the last six weeks,” Farah said. “My aim was to go after the world record with Bashir. We did a lot of work together the last six weeks and were totally focused on getting that time.”

Hassan pulled away from Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in the waning seconds to cover 18,930 meters, surpassing the record of 18,517 produced at the 2008 Ostrava Golden Spike by Ethiopia’s Dire Tune.

“I’m so happy. That is fantastic. I never thought I’m going to run so far,” Hassan told meet organizers. “I didn’t feel good before the start of the race, I even puked. After 30 minutes of racing, I finally felt better. It was in the final 20 minutes that I gained the confidence I needed. When there were only two minutes left on the clock, the fun began. I just gave everything I had left.”

Kosgei also surpassed Tune’s mark by covering 18,904 meters, but the marathon world record holder was later disqualified for stepping on the inside rail at least once in her track debut one month ahead of the London Marathon.

“I didn’t want to push too hard. I was afraid to get injured. I felt Sifan in my back, but didn’t want to run faster with the upcoming marathon,” Kosgei said. “I have definitely more in me than what I showed today. I don’t have a specific time in my head for London, but I hope that I can show the world what I’m capable of.”

Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, who also ran a longer distance than Tune by covering 18,571 meters, elevated to second. Kenya’s Eva Cherono was upgraded to third with 18,341 meters, only one meter better than the 1998 national standard of 18,340 held by former world record holder Tegla Loroupe.

Kenya’s Sheila Chelangat was also instrumental in her pacing, covering 12,000 meters in a little more than 38 minutes. Hassan was in front at 15,000, with she and Kosgei more than 50 seconds ahead of the world-record pace established by Tune.

Hassan, the reigning World champion in the 1,500 and 10,000 meters, now boasts world records on the track in the mile and one-hour run. She has also run the fastest 5-kilometer road race in history.

“I am so happy with the win and the world record,” Hassan said. “It wasn’t easy. An average of almost 19km/h is hard if you have to keep the pace up for one hour. I want to thank the pacemaker because she did a really good job.”

Kosgei came through 18,000 meters in 57:17, before Hassan made a significant surge over the final 600 meters to deliver another all-time performance.

Only three female athletes had covered more than 18,000 meters during an hour run before Friday. Even with Kosgei’s disqualification, there were still three athletes joining that list. In addition, Spain’s Marta Galimany set a national record by covering 17,546 meters to finish sixth and Belgium’s Nina Lauwaert also achieved a national record by accumulating 17,315 meters for ninth.

Although Farah produced the one-hour world record, Abdi will be credited with the 20,000-meter all-time mark of 56:20.02, eclipsing the mark of 56:25.98 by Gebrselassie during his 2007 performance.

“Since I was running in Belgium, I felt like I had to do something special and that’s why I followed Mo until I was dead,” Abdi said. “I knew he is faster at the end and I tried to take a gap on him, but you just can’t get away from Mo Farah.”

Relying on Wavelight technology along the inside rail of the track, both Somalian-born athletes remained right on world-record pace at the 45- and 50-minute marks, before Farah and Abdi elevated their performances to another level over the final laps.

“At a certain point, with just 10 laps to go, it became tough so I was happy that Bashir took the lead. However, I felt great with just one minute to go. I kept believing in my speed so I knew I had a good chance to take this win. A last fast lap is still my best tactic,” Farah said. “It isn’t supposed to be easy to break a world record, but I can tell you that it was really hard. The record stood for a very long time, so that says a lot.”

There were additional world-record pursuits Friday, with Sweden’s Armand “Mondo” Duplantis taking three more tries at the all-time outdoor pole vault mark of 20 feet, 2 inches (6.15m), although his attempts were unsuccessful.

Duplantis won the competition with a first-attempt clearance at 19-8.25 (6.00m), his 12th career performance with at least a 6-meter vault, including the seventh outdoors. Duplantis was two days removed from clearing 19-11 (6.07m) in Lausanne, the highest outdoor mark by any vaulter since 1994.

The height also eclipsed the 2013 meet record of 19-6.50 (5.96m) achieved by France’s Renaud Lavillenie. Belgium’s Ben Broeders placed second at 18-8.25 (5.70m) and American Chris Nilsen took third with a clearance of 18-4.50 (5.60m).

“After Lausanne I was in the right mood to jump high. I felt great, only my body wasn’t 100 percent recovered yet,” Duplantis said. “I feel I have the world record in me for the moment, but everything has to fall into place.”

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon took another run at the fastest women’s 1,000-meter performance in history, but just like July 14 in Monaco, she wasn’t able to take down the 1996 record of 2:28.98 achieved by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova in Brussels.

Kipyegon ran 2:29.92, giving her two of the top-five marks in history, along with her No. 2 all-time performance 2:29.15 in Monaco. Spain’s Esther Guerrero was a distant second Friday in 2:35.64.

Mozambique’s Maria Mutola and Kipyegon are the only two female athletes to produce a pair of sub-2:30 performances in their careers.

Following a pair of runner-up finishes in August to Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot in the 1,500 in Monaco and Stockholm, 19-year-old Norwegian standout Jakob Ingebrigtsen took advantage of the reigning World gold medalist not being in the race and prevailed in 3:30.69, well ahead of Spain’s Jesus Gomez (3:34.64).

Australia’s Nicola McDermott cleared 6-3.25 (1.91m) on her first attempt to win the high jump.

Poland’s Iga Baumgart-Witan won the women’s 400 in 52.13, with Italy’s Eseosa Desalu clocking 20.39 to secure victory in the men’s 200.

Belgian athletes Anne Zagre and Rani Rosius also earned wins. Zagre clocked 13.21 to prevail in the 100-meter hurdles and Rosius ran 11.43 to triumph in the 100-meter dash.