Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera upstaged compatriot Yomif Kejelcha to break the long-standing world indoor 1500m record at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Birmingham, UK on Saturday.
Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera (L) competes to break the indoor world record and win the men’s 1500m final ahead of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha at the Indoor athletics Grand Prix at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham on February 16, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) Kejelcha, who last week came within 0.01 of the world indoor mile record, had announced his intentions to break the 1500m mark ahead of his race in Birmingham.
According to a report by the IAAF website, the pacemakers hit their required target times, taking Kejelcha through 800m in 1:52.70 and 2:49.28 at 1200m. READ ALSO: Fabrice Zango: Lesson for Nigeria athletics But Tefera, the world indoor champion at the distance, was tucked right behind Kejelcha and looked ominously comfortable with the pace. The clock ticked through 3:03 as the bell sounded for the final lap and Tefera made his move, kicking past Kejelcha to take the lead.
Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera poses with his world record time after competing win the men’s 1500m final at the Indoor athletics Grand Prix at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham on February 16, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
Tefera charged towards the line and stopped the clock at 3:31.04, taking 0.14 off the previous record set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. This will now await the usual ratification procedures by the IAAF. Kejelcha finished second in an outright personal best of 3:31.58.(NAN
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