Kenyan Topples Steeplechase World Record

Peter Koech of Kenya shattered the world 3,000-meter steeplechase record with a time of 8 minutes, 5.35 seconds in today’s DN Galan IAAF Mobil Grand Prix track meet.

Koech, the Olympic silver medalist in Seoul last year, narrowly beat fellow Kenyan Henry Rono’s 11-year-old previous mark of 8:05.4 in perfect racing conditions at Olympic Stadium.

Rono set the previous mark, one of the oldest in track, at Bislett Stadium in Oslo in 1978.

Koech, who had a 62.3-second last lap, took the lead with about 200 meters to go in the race and outkicked fellow countryman Patrik Sang.

“The conditions were nearly perfect,” said Koech, a former Washington State University student. “And we had a good pace all the way.”

Koech, who is based in New Mexico and trains there, said he could break the 8-minute barrier with a better steeple technique.

“I’m been doing only flat racing,” he said. “With a better technique it’s possible to run under eight minutes.”

Song Clocks 8:06.02

Sang was clocked in 8:06.02. Graeme Fell of Canada finished third in 8:15.95, Hagen Melzer of East Germany was fourth at 8:16.35 and Brian Diemer, the U.S. champion, was fifth in 8:16.92 in one of history’s fastest 3,000-meter steeplechases.

It was the 77th world record set at Stockholm’s storied Olympic Stadium, more than at any other site in the world. The stadium was built for the 1912 Summer Games.

In later events, six-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis was trying to win his 60th straight long jump victory, but he faced one of the strongest fields of the year.

Robson da Silva of Brazil, who also prevailed in Saturday’s Bislett Games in Oslo, edged Calvin Smith by seven-tenths of a second in the 200 meters. Da Silva clocked 20.30 for a meet and Olympic Stadium record.

Smith, who had upset Lewis in the 100 meters in Oslo, was followed by fellow American Dennis Mitchell in 20.47.