USA 5000M RECORD FOR LAGAT IN OSLO
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

Bob Kennedy's old USA 5000m record of 12:58.21 set in 1996 lasted more than 13 years.  But the man who broke Kennedy's record, Dathan Ritzenhein who ran 12:56.27 last August in Zürich, saw his record fall tonight after just nine months.  Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat clocked 12:54.12 in a remarkable race in Oslo's Bislett Stadium to become the fastest American, ever.

Lagat did not win the race, placing third (the victory went to Ethiopia's Imane Merga in 12:53.81), and he was not the only American to have a breakthrough performance in the race.  USA 10,000m record holder Chris Solinsky clocked a big personal best 12:56.66 in sixth place, just a little slower than Ritzenhein's previous record.

Ten men in Oslo broke 13 minutes, a record, according to statistician Ken Nakamura.  The best times ever for places 8, 9 and 10 were set in the race.  Qatar's Saif Saaeed Shaheen, who finished 11th, nearly got under the 13 minute mark too, clocking 13:00.11. 

Elsewhere in the meeting, part of the IAAF Diamond League, 2008 Olympic 1500m champion, Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, won the Dream Mile in 3:49.56, to narrowly defeat Ethiopia's Mekonnen Gebremedhin by 27/100ths of a second.  Kenya's David Rudisha clocked a sizzling 1:42.04 world leader in the 800m, to defeat Sudan's Abubaker Kaki (1:42.23 NR).  Milcah Chemos Cheywa won the women's steeplechase in a world-leading 9:12.66.

ENDS

1	MERGA, Imane	ETH	12:53.81	PB	5	1
2	BEKELE, Tariku	ETH	12:53.97		2	3
3	LAGAT, Bernard	USA	12:54.12	AR	1	5
4	ROTICH, Lucas Kimeli	KEN	12:55.06	PB
5	CHEPKOK, Vincent Kiprop	KEN	12:56.32		2	3
6	SOLINSKY, Chris	USA	12:56.66	PB
7	BEZABEH, Alemayehu	ESP	12:57.25	NR
8	KISORIO, Matthew Kipkoech	KEN	12:57.83	PB
9	DABA, Bekana	ETH	12:58.51	PB
10	KOMON, Leonard Patrick	KEN	12:59.15
11	SHAHEEN, Saif Saaeed	QAT	13:00.31
12	SOI, Edwin Cheruiyot	KEN	13:07.70
13	SALEL, Daniel Lemashon	KEN	13:08.23	PB
14	KIPCHOGE, Eliud	KEN	13:09.89		4	2
15	KUMA, Abera	ETH	13:10.89	PB
16	BIWOTT, Yusuf Kibet	KEN	13:15.33
17	ABSHIRO, Ayele	ETH	13:18.38
	BIRGEN, Bethwell	KEN	DNF
	C'KURUI, James Kwalia	QAT	DNF
	GENETI, Markos	ETH	DNF
	NDIWA, Remmy Limo	KEN	DNF