Farah, Hassan break one-hour run world records

BRUSSELS: Multiple world and Olympic champion Mo Farah of Britain and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands respectively broke the men’s and women’s one-hour run world record at the Diamond League exhibition meeting on Friday.

The 37-year-old Farah and his training partner and local athlete Bashir Abdi of Belgium both beat the previous world record of 21,285 meters set by Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie back in 2007.

Farah held off Abdi to set a new mark of 21,330m while the Belgian trailed eight meters behind.

The women’s one-hour race saw a close battle between Hassan and Kenya’s world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei. The duo stayed well ahead of the world record pace as they exchanged the lead several times but neither managed to break clear.

The Dutch world 1,500m and 10,000m champion moved ahead once more in the final minute and successfully maintained the lead until the hour elapsed to reach 18,930 meters, smashing the previous mark of 18,517 meters set by Ethiopia’s Dire Tune in 2008.

Kosgei was later disqualified for stepping onto the infield in the closing stages.

Sweden’s star pole vaulter Armand Duplantis once again failed to beat Ukrainian legend Sergei Bubka’s 26-year-old best outdoor mark of 6.14 meters, as the 20-year-old failed all his three attempts at 6.15m after clearing 6.00m.