Grant Fisher in 3000-Meter World Record Race in Liévin, France, on Wednesday

by LetsRun.com
February 14, 2023

We’ve been doing LetsRun.com since 2000 and we’re not sure we’ve ever experienced what we’ll witness on Wednesday – an American racing in Europe with a shot at a distance world record. But that’s what’s going to happen at Wednesday’s World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event in Liévin – the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais – when the men’s 3000 takes place at 4:10 pm ET (10:10 pm local).

(Editor’s note: The rest of the meet is really good. Read our preview here: Liévin Indoor Meet is INSANE – 1500 and 3000 World Records Could Fall – Ingebrigtsen, Jacobs, Duplantis, Warholm, Bol, Tsegay, Fisher This meet could see world records in the men’s and women’s 1500, men’s 3000, and also has Mondo, Karsten Warholm, Marcell Jacobs, Katie Moon, Grant Holloway, and Femke Bol)

 Grant Fisher, who had a brilliant 2022 campaign during which he lowered his 3000 pb from 7:37 to 7:28, his 5000 pb from 13:02 to 12:46 and his 10,000 pb from 27:11 to 26:33, setting American records in the process, is in the absolutely loaded field and LetsRun.com has been told the pacing lights will be set at Daniel Komen’s WR pace of 7:24.90 which has stood since 1998. Update on the pacing here and in the chart below.

Every race in Lievin except men’s 800 will have lights at WR pace
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Komen’s mark is certainly a tall order to take down but Liévin is known for being super fast – 3 of the fastest 9 indoor times in history were run on the same track in 2021 including the #2( 7:24.98) and #3 (7:26.10) times in indoor history – and the field assembled is super stellar and includes studs from all over the world. 

The field includes at least 5 different national record holders including the Diamond League record holder, Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Burundi (7:25.93 pb), the Spanish record holder, Mohamed Katir (7:27.64 pb), the American record holder Fisher (7:28.48), the Bahraini record holder, Birhanu Balew (7:31.77 pb), and the Swedish record holder, Andreas Almgren (7:34.31 pb).

And we haven’t even mentioned the two most credentialed guys in the field, at least in terms of hardware. 2022 world leader at 5000, Jacob Krop of Kenya (12:45.71 pb), who won silver in Eugene, is racing as is Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia. Girma, who has won world championship silver at 4-straight global championships (3 in steeple, 1 in flat 3000 at World indoors), has the fastest indoor pb of anyone in the field at 7:27.98. 12:52 performer Telahun Haile Bekele of Ethiopia is also entered.

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We quickly give you the PBs and credentials of the major players in the field as well as their recent race results.

2023 Liévin Men’s 3000 Key Participants

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    Thierry Ndikumwenayo  – Burundi – 7:25.93 (2022)/12:59.39 (2022).  25-years old. Ndikumwenayo had run 13:25 way back in 2017 but his pb was stuck at 13:25 until last year when he PRd 3 times including a 12:59.39 in Rome. However, he really grabbed the world’s attention when he ran a Diamond League record to win Monaco in 7:25.93 in a race where Grant Fisher set the American record. He didn’t run Worlds last year as he’s transferring his allegiance to Spain. 9th at World xc in 2019. He’s raced several times this year. Was 4th in Valencia 1500 in 3:42.60 in a 3:40.56 race in his lone 2022 track race on January 25th. Also won Spanish xc champs on January 29th. Will be representing Spain eventually.

  • Mohamed Katir – Spain – 3:28.76 (2021)/7:27.64 (2021)/12:50.79 (2021). 24-years old. The former Moroccan started 2021 with pbs of 3:36/7:44 and 13:50 but ended the year as the Spanish record holder in all three events at 3:28/7:27 and 12:50. He didn’t PR in 2022 but picked up his first global medal (bronze in 1500). So far this year he’s run a 28:55 road 10k on January 14th (5th place) and a 3:35.48 1500 (1st place) on Feb 4th in a race where second-place was more than 3 seconds back.
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  • Lamecha Girma – Ethiopia – 7:27.98 3k (2021)/7:58.68 steeple (2022). 22-years old. Girma won silver in the steeple in 2019, 2021 and 2022. He also won silver rin the flat 3k at World indoors last year.  He ran 7:27.98 in Liévin in 2021 but that only placed him 3rd. Ran 7:30.54 and won last year. Hasn’t raced this year which is normal for him as he often opens in Liévin.
  • Grant Fisher – United States – 7:28.48 (2022) /12:46.96 (2022) /26:33.84 (2022). 25-years old. Fisher had a massive 2022 as he lowered his 3k pb from 7:37 to 7:28, 5k pb from 13:02 to 12:46 and 10k pb from 27:11 to 26:33, setting American records in all three events. 4th in 10,000 at 2022 Worlds, 5th in Olympic 10,000. Hasn’t raced this year but he opened up last year this same weekend with a 12:53 5000.
  • Jacob Krop – Kenya – 7:31.90 (2022)/12:45.71 (2022). 21-years old. Krop was the world leader in the 5000 in 2022 and won WC 5000 silver. Last year, he was only 6th in Liévin in 7:34 and only 5th at World indoors but then he had a breakout outdoor campagin during which he lowered his pb from 13:03 to 12:45.71 (world leader) and won WC silver in the 5000 behind Ingebrigtsen. Has raced once in 2023 – 5th in Valencia 10k in 27:04 on January 15th.
  • Birhanu Balew – Bahrain – 7:31.77 (2022)/12:56.26 (2019), 27:07 (2021). 27-years old. Balew was 6th in the 2021 Olympic 5000. Has raced 4 times in 2023, 3 times in xc, but hasn’t won any of those races. Ran 7:31 in Liévin last year to place 4th.
  • Andreas Almgren  – Sweden – 7:34.31 (2022)/13:01.70  (2022).  27-years old. The former world junior medallist at 800 (bronze 2014) has moved up and now finds himself as the Swiss record holder in the 3k and 5k. He has set a new Swedish indoor 3k record in each of the last 3 years including his 7:34.31 in Liévin last year which only placed him 5th. Hasn’t raced in 2023.
  • Telahun Haile BekeleEthiopia – 7:38.24 (2022)/12:52.98 (2019). 23-years old. The two-time Diamond League winner (Rome 2019, Oslo 2022) is best known for his Rome DL win at age 20 in 2019 in 12:52.98 over a stacked field the included Selemon Barega, Mo Ahmed, Hagos Gebrhiwet and others. He finished 4th at Worlds later in the year but didn’t make the final in 2022. Hasn’t raced in 2023.
  • Mike Foppen – Netherlands – 3:35/7:39/13:11/27:59. 26-years-old. He ran that 13:11 at BU to set the Netherlands indoor record a few weeks ago.
  • Ismael Debjani – Belgium – 1:45 (2021)/3:33 (2021)/ 7:49 (2023)/ 13:32 (2022). 32-years old. Is there any chance this guy is the rabbit? He’d be perfect for it, and he’s totally overmatched if he’s racing this one as he just ran a 7:49.08 pb on February 4th in a race that was won in 7:44. He’s not ready to run low 7:30s so why not try to rabbit it for 2k?

Can the record be broken?

7:24.90 celebrated its 25th anniversary as the world record last Monday for a very good reason – it’s a super-fast time (and total mind-boggling if you consider it was done without super shoes). Only two men have ever run faster outdoors, Komen, himself, at 7:20.67 in 1996 and Hicham El Guerrouj at 7:23.09 in 1999. But super spikes and pacing lights certainly are making us think it’s only a matter of time before Komen’s indoor record falls. Remember, in Lievin in 2021, Getnet Wale just missed it by .08.

What do Wale and Grant Fisher have in common? Both are sub-7:30, sub-12:55 men who have never won a global medal, with 4th being their best finish.

Additionally, the 2021 Liévin race was Wale’s 2022 indoor opener (he’d run an 8:42.3 steeple in Ethiopia on January 16th) just as this will be Fisher’s opener.

Grant Fisher’s opener last year was amazing. Can he be even more amazing in 2023?

Now opening that fast isn’t easy (Komen had run 7:27.93 5 days before his 7:27.93), but Fisher opened up at 12:53.73 last year indoors which according to John Kellogg is equivalent to about 7:28 flat or 7:27 high for 3000.

Would it shock you if Fisher was 3 seconds better in 2023 than in 2022? Would it shock you if Fisher is 3.34 seconds better than Yared Nugsue who just ran 7:28.24?

It wouldn’t us,  so there is a chance Fisher gets the world record but Fisher will have to be better than he was last year and we don’t even know if Lievin is as fast of a track as BU or if the rabbiting will be as good or if Fisher is in as good of shape. It’s our understanding that Fisher is in good shape and wanted to race in Europe to try something different, but it’s not like he set out to find a world record attempt. He just knows Lievin is an amazing meet and is fast all the time.

One thing likely going against Fisher is that at BU Fisher worked his way down to 12:53. In Lievin, it doesn’t seem like they are going to try to negative-split it so Fisher may need to work his way through the field if he wants to run a similar race. At 3000 (7:53.51) at BU last year, the leaders were only on 13:09 pace. Fisher ran 12:53 by running his last 1600 in an incredible 3:57.56.

What’s crazy though is if Fisher or anyone is going to break the 3000 record on Wednesday, they have to average faster than that as 3:57.56 per 1600 comes up to 7:25.43.

Who wins the men's 3k in Liévin?

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Does the 7:24.90 3k WR fall in Liévin?

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LRC Prediction: When Nuguse ran 7:28, we immediately started thinking, “Isn’t someone in the world more than 3.34 seconds better than him? That would mean the 3000 indoor WR would fall. After watching Nuguse destroy everyone in the mile at Millrose, we’re not sure anyone is 3-seconds better than Nuguse.

That being said, with this many good guys in the field, if the rabbiting is good, through at least 1800, the record is in serious jeopardy. Katir may have the best shot at getting it as he’s faster than the other guys and we know he’s fit given his 3:35 sb. 3000 may be a little short for someone like Grant Fisher or Jacob Krop (and it’s also early in the year for Krop).

In terms of most likely to break the record, we hate to say it but we rank it 1) Katir 2) Girma 3) Fisher 4) Krop 5) Ndikumwenayo, but that shows how great this field is as we have a 7:25 guy as our 5th most likely guy to break the record, but we haven’t been impressed by Ndikumwenayo’s results so far this year.

Final prediction: Katir wins, no world record.

More: The rest of the meet is really good. Read our preview here: Liévin Indoor Meet is INSANE – 1500 and 3000 World Records Could Fall – Ingebrigtsen, Jacobs, Duplantis, Warholm, Bol, Tsegay, Fisher This meet could see world records in the men’s and women’s 1500, men’s 3000, and also has Mondo, Karsten Warholm, Marcell Jacobs, Katie Moon, Grant Holloway, and Femke Bol.


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