Distance runner Adriaan Wildschutt delivered another stunning performance on Sunday night, continuing his groundbreaking season by destroying his own South African 3 000m record at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia, Poland.
Wildschutt, who recently finished 10th in the 10 000m final at the Paris Olympics, took eighth place over seven-and-a-half laps in Silesia.
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He completed the race in 7:32.99, shattering the national 3 000m mark of 7:36.77 which he had set in Stockholm in June.
Remarkably, it was Wildschutt’s sixth national record this season, as the 26-year-old athlete continued to raise the bar in South African distance running.
In a lightning fast race, Norwegian athlete Jakob Ingebrigtsen stormed to victory in 7:17.55, setting a new world record.
Other events
South Africa was also well represented in other events at the top-flight meeting in Silesia.
Olympic silver medallist Jo-Ane van Dyk took second place in the women’s javelin throw, landing the spear at 62.81 metres with her final attempt.
Former World U20 Championships medallist Brian Raats ended sixth in the men’s high jump, clearing the bar at 2.22m, while Shaun Maswanganyi finished seventh in the men’s 200m race in 20.55 seconds, and Tiaan Bosch was sixth in the men’s 800m wheelchair race in 2:18.81.
African athletes shine
Meanwhile, four other African athletes delivered in style by winning their respective events.
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana set a new meeting record of 19.83 to triumph in the men’s 200m race.
Nelly Chepchirchir of Kenya won the women’s 1 000m contest in 2:31.24, clocking the fastest time in the world this year.
Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia, the world champion over the one-mile distance on the road, won the women’s 1 500m event in 3:57.08.
Two-time Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco took the men’s 3 000m steeplechase race in 8:04.29.
The next leg of the Diamond League series will be held in Rome, Italy on Friday 30 August.
