by Deji Ogeyingbo
Deji’s Doodles: Fisher and Kiplimo shatter distance records, while Tsgay, Furlani, and Nugent take home impressive victories at the meet in Torun
Events continue to come thick and fast in the world of Track and Field as athletes continue their quest to break records while also building up to the world indoor championships next month in Nanjing.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the major talking points from last weekend’s actions.
Another world record for Grant Fisher and men’s distance running is in a state of controlled randomness: Eventually, the world record spree we’ve witnessed in the last one week will have to stop. At least, judging by the frequency of them of late, we will be well damned if we see another one fall in the next few weeks.
Before that though, let’s talk about the latest one indoors for a bit. Fisher’s latest world record in the 5000m is yet another chapter in an ongoing story that’s hard to believe, even for track fans who’ve seen it all. The pace of these world records is almost dizzying. Just a few days after breaking the 3000m indoor record in New York, Fisher did it again in Boston.
The Armory, New York, NY, USA, photo by Kevin R. Morris
He didn’t just break the 5000m record, he obliterated it. Fisher, already an Olympic bronze medalist, ran smartly, picking off the competition when it counted. By the time he reached the halfway point, Jimmy Gressier was already out of the picture. Fisher kept his focus, staying steady as he pumped out lap after lap in under 31 seconds.
When he hit the final 400m in 59.36 seconds, it was clear the record was his. His final time, 12:44.09, was five seconds faster than the previous record set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2004.
We may not see another record broken for a while as this kind of streak isn’t sustainable.
Gudaf Tsegay continues her long history of doing well indoors: Gudaf Tsegay is at it again. In Torun, she ran 3:53.92 for 1500m, the second-fastest indoor time in history. Only one woman has ever run faster indoors, Tsegay herself. She now owns the three fastest times ever recorded in the event, which says everything about her consistency at the top level.
This performance was even more impressive considering what happened just three days earlier. In Liévin, she finished second in the 3000m, not looking like her usual self. After the race, she revealed she had been battling the flu. But in Torun, there were no signs of struggle. She followed the pacemaker through 400m in 1:02.1, reached 800m in 2:05.2, and controlled the race from start to finish.
Tsegay has built a reputation for showing up indoors and running fast, and she did it again. At this point, it’s almost expected. She’s made 3:54 look routine, but it’s anything but. To run at this level, year after year, takes an incredible mix of talent, training, and execution. And with how she’s been running, it feels like she’s not done rewriting the record books just yet.
Ackera Nugent continues to gain confidence with these wins: Ackera Nugent once again showed she has the guts to ruffle feathers with the big names. The Jamaican is making a habit of winning. A week after running a world-leading 7.75 in Liévin, she held off Ditaji Kambundji by the smallest of margins, 0.01 seconds to take another victory in the 60m hurdles.
It wasn’t a perfect night. Nugent started with a 7.93 in the heats, finishing third. But when it mattered most, she found another gear. Her 7.79 in the final wasn’t just enough to win, it kept her unbeaten streak alive.
Kambundji pushed her to the limit, running a Personal Best of 7.80. But Nugent had just a little more. That’s what separates great hurdlers from the rest. They don’t just win when they’re at their best. They win when the race is tight, when the pressure is on, when every hundredth of a second counts.
Right now, that’s what Nugent is doing. Having confirmed she will be at the world indoor championships in a few weeks time, the Jamaican will no doubt be the bookies favourite for the win in Nanjing.
Mattia Furlani is the next big thing in the Long Jump: For a while now, it had always felt like the men’s Long Jump felt like a bore for most fans. Through major meets during the season and to world champs or Olympics, it was always the same shtick. A lot of missed jumps, near big jumps and then Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou eventually wins.
In Torun, we might have just seen the changing of the guard as Mattia Furlani is giving the Greek god a run for his money. The Italian finally broke the pattern. He didn’t just beat Tentoglou, he did it in style. On his last attempt, the 20-year-old soared 8.37m, setting a new Italian indoor record and coming within a centimeter of his personal best. It was the kind of jump that makes you sit up and pay attention.
Furlani had been knocking on the door for a while, but this felt different. He led the competition early, stayed in control, and finished with a statement. Beating an Olympic and world champion isn’t easy. Doing it by 34 centimeters? That’s a message.
Maybe it’s too soon to call this a passing of the torch. Tentoglou isn’t going anywhere. But for the first time in a long time, men’s long jump has a real fight at the top.
Jacob Kiplimo- Star of the weekend: This goes to none other than Jacob Kiplimo. What really is making these runners fast these days. For Kiplimo, we can’t go out on a limb and say we didn’t expect he would lower the half marathon record, considering the one held it before, but shaving 48 seconds off it is a whole new level of greatness on its own.
That’s not just breaking a record, it’s obliterating it. In distance running, improvements usually come in small steps, not giant leaps. But Kiplimo didn’t just shave a few seconds off; he took nearly a minute.
At 24, the Ugandan star has already proven he’s one of the best, but this? This is something else. He became the first man to break 57 minutes for the distance, hitting 15km in a record 40:07 along the way. The conditions were perfect, cool air, no wind—but no weather advantage can explain this kind of jump.
Distance running is changing fast. Shoes, training, strategy, it’s all evolving. But Kiplimo’s performance is more than that. It’s raw speed, endurance, and guts. We expected him to go fast. We didn’t expect this.
