The men’s 5,000m at the Oslo Diamond League on Thursday had the firepower to be something special with the likes of world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and his compatriot, Jacob Kiplimo. However, it wasn’t the likely candidates who stole the show. Instead, 30-year-old Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet clocked the second-fastest 5K time in history–12:36.73 to break the Ethiopian national record.
Gebrhiwet’s time wasn’t only a national record, but an Oslo Bislett Games meet record, a personal best and the fastest time in the world this year. He took nearly six seconds off his previous best of 12:42.18 and broke Kenenisa Bekele’s Ethiopian record mark of 12:37.35, set on May 31, 2004.
Speaking to the media post-race, Gebrhiwet said he hopes this result will help him be selected for the Ethiopian team for the 10,000m event at the 2024 Olympics.
The only man who has ever run faster than Gebrhiwet is Cheptegei, who finished ninth in Thursday’s race, with a time of 12:51.94.
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