Athletics: Tsegay smashes 1500m indoor world record
Athletics - World Athletics Indoor Tour - Arena Stade Couvert, Lievin, France - February 9, 2021 Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay poses as she celebrates winning the women's 1500m and setting a new world record REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay smashed the world indoor 1500m record by over two seconds in Lievin, France on Tuesday, beating Laura Muir, who became the first British woman to break the four-minute barrier when finishing second.
Tsegay blew the rest of the field away at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais with a blistering time of 3:53.09, taking more than two seconds off the world indoor record set by compatriot Genzebe Dibaba in Karlsruhe in 2014.
Muir also impressed, setting a British indoor record time of 3:59.58 to come in a distant second, with team mate Melissa Courtney-Bryant taking third in 4:04.79.
Athletics - World Athletics Indoor Tour - Arena Stade Couvert, Lievin, France - February 9, 2021 Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay celebrates winning the women's 1500m and setting a new world record REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
"I'm very happy to set a world indoor record," said Tsegay. "I have been training really hard and I set myself a target to break the world indoor record."
(Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Toby Davis)
Athletics - World Athletics Indoor Tour - Arena Stade Couvert, Lievin, France - February 9, 2021 Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay celebrates winning the women's 1500m and setting a new world record REUTERS/Pascal RossignolAthletics - World Athletics Indoor Tour - Arena Stade Couvert, Lievin, France - February 9, 2021 Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay celebrates with flowers after winning the women's 1500m and setting a new world record REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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