MONACO: A world record broken after 16 years. An eighth fastest run all-time in another event. A European record run by a teenager. Several world-leading performances.

Some of the world’s top track and field athletes showed at Monaco on Friday what their sport has missed in the biggest international meeting so far of an outdoor season all but wrecked by the pandemic.

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda was the standout star of the first full Diamond League meet winning the 5,000 metres in 12 minutes, 35.36 seconds to break the world record set in 2004.

Cheptegei raced clear on a balmy night at Stade Louis II to finish 1.99 seconds inside the 12:37.35 mark set by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia.

Cheptegei, who is the 2019 world champion over 10,000, took 22 seconds off his lifetime best at 5,000.

“Monaco is a special place and it’s one of these places where I could break the world record,” said Cheptegei, who has trained in Uganda instead of Europe this year.

Noah Lyles shaped as the star attraction, and the American world champion at 200 metres ran the world’s best time this year to win in 19.76.

“I got high expectations for myself so I’d say the race got the Noah stamp of approval but I wouldn’t say it got the Noah satisfaction stamp,” said Lyles, whose brother, Josephus, was runner-up in 20.30.

The track meet known as Herculis is renowned for fast times, especially in middle distance running, and produced a world record for the third straight year.

Yet that seemed less likely in an Olympic season when all athletes’ plans and preparations were upended by the coronavirus and the Tokyo Games were postponed.

World champion Karsten Warholm asked Monaco promoters to add a men’s 400 hurdles race -- and got a sponsor of his to cover the costs -- and repaid them by equaling the eighth-best time in history.

The Norwegian clocked 47.10 seconds and has three of the 10 fastest runs all-time. His best is 46.92, second all-time, run last August at Zurich.

Another young Norwegian, 19-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen, set a European record in the 1,500 at 3:28.68 -- 0.13 faster than Britain’s Mo Farah at Monaco in 2013.

It still left Ingebrigtsen runner-up in a standout race won by Kenyan world champion Timothy Cheriuyot in 3:28.45 that was 0.04 outside his lifetime best.

Among the world-leading times in 2020, world champion Donavan Brazier clocked 1:43.15 in the men’s 800 that was 0.08 ahead of fellow American Bryce Hoppel, while Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon ran the second-fastest ever 1,000m, clocking 2:29.15.

Orlando Ortega of Spain timed 13.11 in the 110 hurdles, with world champion Grant Holloway of the United States fourth in 13.19.

Armand Duplantis of Sweden won the pole vault at 6.00 meters — 18 centimeters below his world record clearance in February — after his main rival, world champion Sam Kendricks of the US, was a late scratch because his poles had not arrived.

In the women’s 5,000, world champion Hellen Obiri surged clear of Letesenbet Gidey to win in 14:18.37 after Sifan Hassan dropped out with three laps to go.

Ajla del Ponte of Switzerland looked as surprised as everyone else in the stadium when she took the women’s 100m in 11.16 seconds, with favourite Marie-Josee Ta Lou a sluggish fourth in 11.39.

In the other two field events on show, Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas won the women’s triple jump with a best of 14.27m, while world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Britain could only finish sixth (1.84m) in a women’s high jump competition won by Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh (1.98).

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2020