Running News Daily

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase: Mr Second Place, Gets His Second World Record of 2023

For most of his career, Lamecha Girma was known for finishing second.

At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Girma got the silver medal in the steeplechase losing to Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya. At the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, he got the silver medal losing to Soufiane El Bakkali. At the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, he got the silver medal in the 3,000m flat losing to his fellow countryman Selemon Barega.

Finally, in Eugene last year for the World Championship, he got the silver medal once more, losing to the man who is now his fiercest rival, El Bakkali. 

Girma’s fate has changed in 2023 and second took on a whole different meaning Friday night in Paris as Girma ran a sensational 7:52.11 in the 3000m steeplechase to break Saif Saaeed Shaheen’s nearly 19 year-old world record of 7:53.63. It was Girma’s second world record of 2023, to go with his 7:23.81 indoor 3000m record.

The RaceGirma was hot on the pace right from the gun, pressing the two pacers in front of him as soon as the three of them were in a single-file line together. The wavelight technology was set to the WR of 7:53.63, so Girma knew exactly where he was in relation to making history. The pacemaker’s assignment was not clear watching the race, as Girma went by the second pacemaker with more than four laps remaining in the race. Passing the pacemaker who was on schedule for the world record displayed the fact that Girma meant business. The wavelights were well behind him as he hit 4:41 with three laps remaining.

His second kilometer was a blistering 2:35, hitting 2,000m at 5:12.5, a full six seconds faster than Shaheen during his world record performance. As the laps went on, Girma definitely was tiring, as the water jumps looked to take more and more out of him. As he hit the bell, the distance from him to the front of the wavelight (the previous WR) was shrinking.

The Ethiopian was about even with the lights with 300m to go and looked exhausted, but he found another gear and lengthened his lead from the lights with 200m to go and cleanly cleared the final two barriers en route to his new WR of 7:52.11. 

Quick Take: Girma’s WR was no surprise to him

On the LetsRun.com homepage, 80% of voters said that Girma would not take down the steeplechase world record. Nonetheless, there was reason to believe in Girma tonight. Girma broke Daniel Komen’s indoor 3,000m WR less than four months ago and Komen’s records are known as some of the most elusive on the books. If that was too far away for your liking, Girma also ran a 7:26.18 outdoor 3,000m in Doha in May to beat a very strong field. He even beat his rival El Bakkali by approximately seven seconds in that race. 

After the race, Girma said “I felt so fast during the race, so confident. The world record is not a surprise, I planned to beat it tonight in Paris. It’s a result of full determination.”