Kenyan Runner Breaks World Record in Road Mile Race Amid Historic Performances in Germany

On Saturday, 19-year-old Kenyan runner Emmanuel Wanyonyi broke the world road mile record at the adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany with a time of 3:54.5*. Wanyonyi surpassed the previous world record of 3:56.13 set by USA’s Hobbs Kessler at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 in October. Despite celebrating before crossing the finish line, Wanyonyi was able to secure the new record. Kessler finished second with a time of 3:56.1, while South Africa’s Ryan Mphahlele came third with a time of 3:56.4.

In addition to the men’s mile race, there was also a rare road 800m event won by Canada’s Marco Arop. Arop, who defeated Wanyonyi at the world championships in Budapest last year, finished with a time of 1:45. The women’s 5km saw the world U20 5000m champion, Medina Eisa, set a new record with a time of 14:38, making it the fastest ever women’s road 5km by an U20 athlete.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich narrowly missed breaking the women-only world record for 10km by running a time of 30:03. The 23-year-old was just two seconds shy of the record set by the late Agnes Tirop at the same event in 2021. In honor of Tirop, athletes at the event wore limited-edition kit. These performances are subject to ratification and all times are to be confirmed as official records after further review and evaluation by governing bodies such as World Athletics or IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations).