The IAAF says he came through in 21:51, and calls it a "World best." That means a WR in a category for which no official WRs are recorded, right?
I've often wondered if Bekele came through the 8000m mark in his 26:17 WR in under 21:00. (Even pace would be 21:02.)
Also remember that Leonard Patrick Komon's 8K split would be faster than Merga's as well as his 12K. Some world bests mean stuff and some don't.
Keep in mind that there are 2 different names for the best times in events:
"World Records" and "World Bests."
"World Records" is usually only for Olympic and World Championships Distances. The only exception is the 1 mile.
"World Bests" are usually everything else, such as Mr. Daniel Komen's infamous sub 8:00 2 mile clockings.
What ever you call it, Mr. Merga's time at 8km is really amazing, and it will be interesting to see what he does at the Lake Biwa Marathon.
Jason
There are few other "World Records" other than Olympic and World Championship distances, plus the mile.
E.g. 2000m, 20,000m, 25,000m, 30,000m, 15k, 20k.... 100km.
http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=O/age=N/season=0/sex=M/list.html
But yes, 2 mile and 8k are World Bests, not records. Just to add to the confusion, different World Best lists have different criteria for inclusion. The ARRS don't accept times recorded en route to a longer race, nor do they accept women's times in a mixed race as records. In theory, none of times set by Mary Keitany in the RAK half marathon would count as records by the ARRS, although IAAF will recognise the IAAF distances recorded en route and perhaps others will recognise the times set at other distances e.g. 10 miles.
There are few other "World Records" other than Olympic and World Championship distances, plus the mile.
E.g. 2000m, 20,000m, 25,000m, 30,000m, 15k, 20k.... 100km.
But yes, 2 mile and 8k are World Bests, not records. Just to add to the confusion, different World Best lists have different criteria for inclusion. The ARRS don't accept times recorded en route to a longer race, nor do they accept women's times in a mixed race as records. In theory, none of times set by Mary Keitany in the RAK half marathon would count as records by the ARRS, although IAAF will recognise the IAAF distances recorded en route and perhaps others will recognise the times set at other distances e.g. 10 miles.
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And that just complicates things and makes the sport harder to "get" for the average person. If you run a set distance faster than anyone else it should be a World Record.