Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge may already be the best marathoner in history. In Tokyo, at the last Olympics, Eliud Kipchoge joined a very closed circle. He became the third athlete to retain his title of Olympic marathon champion. Only the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila (1960 and 1964) and the German Waldemar Cierpinski (1976 and 1980) had achieved this feat before him. Kipchoge is also the holder of the world record for the marathon (2h1min39 s). He managed to complete the 42 km "in less than two hours", but unfortunately this time was not approved by World Athletics because it was not an official race.
The Burkinabé Hugues-Fabrice Zango achieved the feat on Saturday in Aubière by smashing the world record for the triple indoor jump (18.07 m) which belonged to his trainer, the French Teddy Tamgho (17.92) m.
Zango (27 years old) becomes the first man to exceed 18 m indoors by erasing Tamgho, whose record had been held since 2011. At the same time, he exploded his best personal mark achieved in January 2020 (17.77 m). His outdoor record is 17.66 m (African record). The world record of Briton Jonathan Edwards (18.29 m), which has been resisting since 1995, however seems difficult to achieve for the moment.
Zango, bronze medalist at the Doha Worlds behind the Americans Christian Taylor and Will Claye in 2019, thus confirms his place among the top names in the discipline and becomes Burkina Faso's first Olympic medalist by winning Bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Burkinabé Hugues-Fabrice Zango achieved the feat on Saturday in Aubière by smashing the world record for the triple indoor jump (18.07 m) which belonged to his trainer, the French Teddy Tamgho (17.92) m.
Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh smashed the world record to win the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on Friday (21), clocking 1:04:31 at the World Athletics Gold Label road race.
Marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei was a distant second in 1:04:49, but her time was also inside the previous world record of 1:04:51, set by Joyciline Jepkosgei in Valencia in 2017.
Rosemary Wanjiru came through to take third place in 1:05:34, the fastest ever debut half marathon, and the next five women over the line finished inside 67 minutes.