For the last 16+ years that I’ve been frequenting this website, people have been saying that Komen’s 7:20.67 was the most untouchable middle or long distance record in the books. Saying things like “All the greats have tried and nobody’s even come close,” even “That record will still be standing 50 years from now,” etc. For years now I’ve argued that a few other all-time greats may have been capable of 7:20-7:21 and it’s been mostly an uphill battle. Now Jakob throws down a performance that’s pretty clearly superior, averaging 7:21.89 pace with his final 3k in ~7:21.3 and the second mile in ~3:53.8, and I see people saying it’s not that impressive since the 2-mile is a seldom contested non-championship distance.
I’ve spent enough time weirdly wrapped up in the numerical side of the sport that I don’t really need it to be a standard event in order to conceptualize how impressive it is. Hell, I’m the guy who wasted hours upon hours during the Covid shutdown trying to compile a hyper realistic 4,000 meter top-list if that had always been the standard distance. What Jakob did yesterday was truly incredible, stronger than Komen’s 3k and probably stronger than Cheptegei’s 5k too, and there’s no one else in the world who could match it.
Jakob’s record is most impressive to me, the only one I found shocking to be honest. The other two are a toss-up: on one hand, I’ve always believed the competition in the steeple was inevitably somewhat weaker than in the flat events, and if you look at some others who have run 7:55-7:56 (Bernard Barmasai, Richard Mateelong), maybe 7:52.11 isn’t that far out there; on the other hand, I think the women’s 5k actually still has a few seconds to go before it matches 3:49.11 and 29:01.03. Of course it should go without saying that all 3 were amazing performances that I was lucky to witness live.