Jakob Ingebrigtsen Runs 7:17.55 to Obliterate Daniel Komen’s Legendary 3000m World Record

Few athletes run with more confidence than Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who at the age of 23 has already won Olympic titles in the 1500 and 5000 meters. But even Ingebrigtsen could not believe his eyes when he crossed the finish line in the men’s 3000 meters in today’s Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Diamond League meet in Chorzów, Poland. As he caught sight of the time, he put his arms to his head in shock, his mouth agape before he was embraced in celebration by his former rival, the great Polish 800m runner Marcin Lewandowski.

Ingebrigtsen’s disbelief was well-founded. For nearly 28 years, Daniel Komen’s 7:20.67 had endured as perhaps the greatest of all distance running world records. Since that run in Rieti, Italy, in September 1996, no one had come within even two seconds of Komen’s mark.

Now, Komen is only second on the all-time list, and a distant second at that. Ingebrigtsen took a blowtorch to Komen’s record by running 7:17.55 on a warm (85 degrees Fahrenheit) Sunday afternoon in Silesia.

It is a time that scarcely seems real. 7:17.55 is 3:54.72 mile pace, or 58.34 seconds per lap for 7.5 laps. Ingebrigtsen ran his final 1600m today in 3:51.1, his final 1000 in 2:22.25, his final 800 in 1:52.91, his last lap in 55.45. The Norwegian phenomenon has reshaped what is possible in distance running.

Ingebrigtsen has some obvious advantages that Komen lacked almost three decades ago. While both men had pacemaking help, Ingebrigtsen also had the Wavelight pacing lights on the interior of the track guiding him along. Those green lights were set to Ingebrigtsen’s exact specifications, with the Norwegian targeting a negative split: the lights were set to hit 2000m in 4:55 (7:22.5 3000m pace) before increasing the tempo for the final two and a half laps.

And of course, Ingebrigtsen had the benefit of Nike’s bouncy supershoes and super spikes, which have allowed athletes of the 2020s to train harder, recover better, and race faster. But even accounting for modern advantages, this was one of the greatest distance performances of all time. Only Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 marathon world record is worth more points on World Athletics’ scoring tables.

Men’s distance world records

The race

Ingebrigtsen would not commit to a world record attempt in Saturday’s pre-race press conference, perhaps out of respect to the difficulty of Komen’s mark, but his intentions were made clear when the Wavelight was set to a target time of 7:20.65, two hundredths below the record. With a temperature of 85 degrees and winds of 13 miles per hour gusting to 24, the conditions in Chorzów on Sunday were not ideal for a world record. Ingebrigtsen would later admit the heat made the race more challenging, but Stadion Śląski’s 54,000 seats, which surrounded the track on all sides, limited the impact of the wind.

Pacers Pieter Sisk did a good job towing Ingebrigtsen through 1k (2:27.6 for Ingebrigtsen) with American Vincent Ciattei taking over at 1600 (3:56.0 for Ingebrigtsen) and lasting until 1900m. At that point, only a trio of Ethiopians remained with Ingebrigtsen: Yomif Kejelcha, Olympic 10,000 silver medalist Berihu Aregawi, and Addisu Yihune. 

It would have been understandable for Ingebrigtsen to show some fatigue at this point, for he has been busy this month. From August 2-10, he ran five races in nine days at the Olympics in Paris, taking 4th in the 1500 in 3:28.24 (under the old Olympic record but not enough for a medal) and winning the 5000 handily by more than a second. And just three days ago, Ingebrigtsen ran one of his fastest times ever, 3:27.83, to dominate Olympic champ Cole Hocker in the 1500 in Lausanne.

But Ingebrigtsen recovers better than any runner on the circuit – recall his 3:43 mile/7:23 3000m double at last year’s Diamond League final – and he was still full of run over the final 1000 meters today. Ingebrigtsen began to open a gap with two laps to go, and a devastating 57.46 penultimate lap gave him 10 meters on Aregawi, the only man remotely close to him, and put him in front of the Wavelight for the first time. Ingebrigtsen needed a 58.5 for the world record and would easily manage that. Aregawi, meanwhile, would hold on impressively well to finish 2nd in 7:21.28 and move into third on the all-time list. American Grant Fisher struggled mightily in his first race since earning two Olympic medals in Paris, finishing 15th and last in 7:49.79.

“It feels special, amazing,” Ingebrigtsen told meet organizers. “I was hoping to challenge the world record here, but based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of. I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though. At the beginning the pace felt really fast, but then I started to feel my way into the race and found a good rhythm.

“3000 is a tough distance. After 4-5 laps you feel the lactic acid, but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat today, but it is the same for everyone. I have a good team. We use ice vests, we make sure I stay hydrated and I am prepared.”

Race video, full results and analysis appear below.

Race video (Can’t see it? Get the VPN we use)

Results

1	17	NOR	INGEBRIGTSEN Jakob	7:17.55 WR	7	8		7:23.63
2	13	ETH	AREGAWI Berihu	7:21.28 NRPB	12	7		7:26.81
3	14	ETH	KEJELCHA Yomif	7:28.44	2	13		7:23.64
4	10	ETH	BEKELE Telahun Haile	7:30.97	3	10
5	16	KEN	KWEMOI Ronald	7:31.57	19	6		7:28.73
6	7	CAN	AHMED Mohammed	7:31.96 NRPB	28	3		7:40.49
7	12	ETH	BAREGA Selemon	7:32.49	4	10		7:26.28
8	2	RSA	WILDSCHUTT Adriaan	7:32.99 NRPB	26	4	7:36.77	7:36.77
9	11	KEN	KIPKORIR Nicholas	7:33.46	15	7		7:31.19
10	9	ETH	YIHUNE Addisu	7:33.94 PB	9	8		7:39.27
11	6	NED	FOPPEN Mike	7:34.47 NR	29	3
12	4	IRL	GRIGGS Nicholas	7:39.52
13	8	AUS	McSWEYN Stewart	7:40.24	31	2
14	3	USA	McGORTY Sean	7:42.15	25	4	7:32.79	7:32.79
15	15	USA	FISHER Grant	7:49.79	13	7	7:27.99	7:25.47
DNF	18	USA	CIATTEI Vincent 2nd PM – 2K 4:55 – Target time 7:28
DNF	5	POL	RAK Filip
DNF	19	BEL	SISK Pieter 1st PM – 1K 2:27.5					7:51.07

Ingebrigtsen’s quest to break every distance world record picks up steam

Last year, Ingebrigtsen told the Norwegian newspaper VG that he wanted to eventually break every world record from 1500 meters through the marathon. Ingebrigtsen started by targeting (and breaking) world records in the rarely-run 2000m and 2 miles in 2023.

Now Ingebrigtsen’s quest is getting serious. Komen’s world record was the longest-standing distance WR on the books and viewed by many as the most impressive performance. But there were signs Ingebrigtsen was capable of breaking it.

When Ingebrigtsen ran 7:54.10 to break the 2-mile world record in Paris last year, LetsRun stats guru John Kellogg said that performance was worth 7:18.82 for 3000. Last year, Ingebrigtsen’s 1500 sb was 3:27.14. This year, Ingebrigtsen has run even faster for 1500, clocking 3:26.73 in Monaco on July 12. So if Ingebrigtsen was in 7:18 3000 shape last year and is now .41 faster in the 1500, it stands to reason that he could run 7:17.

The big question of course, is whether Ingebrigtsen would still be able to summon a performance like that after the mental and physical grind of the Olympics. But Ingebrigtsen made it clear in Lausanne that he felt two weeks was plenty of time to recover from the Olympics (the Olympic 5,000 final was 15 days ago). 

And unlike most athletes who peak hard for the Olympics, Ingebrigtsen is able to produce close to his top performance level throughout the entire year. Last year, Ingebrigtsen ran a 3:43 mile and 7:23 3000 (both pbs at the time) in his final races of the year on September 16 and 17. And ahead of his 2024 season opener in May, Ingebrigtsen said he expected to improve more during the season than in previous years given he would be gaining fitness throughout the year after missing time due to an Achilles injury this winter. 

If Ingebrigtsen can run 7:17 for 3000m, he has a great chance to break Joshua Cheptegei’s world records at 5,000 (12:35.36) and 10,000 (26:11.00) in the coming years if he can stay healthy. Ingebrigtsen’s 5,000 pb is just 12:48 and has never run a 10,000 on the track, but he is an aerobic monster and both of those world records are considered weaker comparatively than what Ingebrigtsen ran today. According to WA’s scoring tables, 7:17.55 for 3000 is equivalent to 12:30.68 for 5000 and 26:02.83 for 10,000m. Ingebrigtsen himself believes his best distance to be the half marathon.

Given Ingebrigtsen’s skillset, Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 1500 record from 1998 – the oldest men’s distance WR still standing now that Komen’s has been broken – may actually be tougher for him than the 5,000. He has run 3:26.73 this year, but three-quarters of a second is still a considerable margin in the 1500; when Ingebrigtsen ran a 3:43.73 mile at Pre last year, he still did not consider himself close to El Guerrouj’s 3:43.13 world record.

Ingebrigtsen is next slated to run the 1500 in Zurich 11 days from now – usually plenty of time for him to recover. Though he’s never had to recover from a 7:17 before.

LRC Jakob Ingebrigtsen Wants It All: “If Some People Can Do Something, I Believe I Can Do It Better

Ingebrigtsen’s world record was one of two set at the meet as Mondo Duplantis set yet another world record in the pole vault at the end of the meet — this time with a 6.26m clearance.

*Full meet results *Full meet recap by World Athletics

Discuss the meet and this race on the LetsRun.com messageboard:

• Official 2024 Silesia DL Thread: Will the 800m and 3000m WRs Go Down?
• 7:17.55! Jakob Ingebrigtsen DESTROYS 3000m WR Jakob has done it. The oldest men’s track WR is history.
• Mondo upstages Jingy! He set another WR of 6.26 at the end of the meet.
• How is 7:17 for 3000 even possible? The Greatest WR is 7:17
• Komen is still better than Jakob
• and some of you will still come out and scream “Kerr is better than Jakob”
• Jakob MUST run a fast 5000m this season — why isnt he entered in Rome DL?
• 3000m; lights are set at 7:20.67
• Jacob equivocal on M 3000M WR attempt at the Silesia DL press conference
• Jessica Hull dropped out of Selesia Diamond league 1500m
• Kessler running the 800 in Silesia