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Yomif Kejelcha Earns Performance of the Week Honors - 3/5/19

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DyeStat.com   Mar 5th 2019, 6:51pm
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World Record Earns Readers' and Editors' Choice Awards

Track and field fans voiced their choices in this week's DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll, while DyeStat's editors made their own selection.

Readers’ Choice: Yomif Kejelcha

With 62.13 percent of the vote, Yomif Kejelcha won our Readers’ Choice vote, beating Katelyn Tuohy with her second-place tally of 16.27 percent.

The third time was the charm for Nike Oregon Project athlete from Ethiopia. Twice before, Kejelcha and his coach, Alberto Salazar, had made world-record attempts, only to come up just short. On his third and final attempt of the indoor season, Kejelcha finally did it, running 3:47.01 for the indoor mile to break Hicham El Guerrouj's 22-year-old record of 3:48.45.

This was Kejelcha's second attempt at the mile record. His first came Feb. 9 at the NYRR Millrose Games in the Wanamaker Mile last month. However, uneven pacing early in the race played a significant factor in Kejelcha missing the record by the smallest of margins, 0.008 seconds.

Watch Kejelcha's Wanamaker Mile race on USATF.TV.

A week later, Kejelcha was chasing a record again, this time over 1,500 meters at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix. It was a mark also owned by El Guerrouj from 1997. This time, Kejelcha had company. Fellow Ethiopian, Samuel Tefera, remained close on his heals after the rabbit dropped out.

The final lap saw Tefera move past Kejelcha to not only take the win, but the world record. Tefera ran 3:31.04. Kejelcha crossed the line in 3:31.58, good for third all-time behind Tefera and El Guerrouj.

Having come up shy twice before, Kejelcha had one last shot during his 2019 indoor campaign at the Bruce Lehane Invitational Mile at Boston University.

Editors’ Choice: Yomif Kejelcha

Before Kejelcha ran his impressive mile in Boston Sunday, there was another impressive performance that should be noted. Laura Muir completed a double-double at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, representing Great Britain. She won the 3,000 and 1,500 meters for the second time, the former requiring a championship record 8:30.61 to beat Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen (a member of the Nike Oregon Project). Muir ran the second 1,500 meters of the race in 4:05, roughly the same time she won the 1,500 meters in two days later. It was an impressive weekend for Muir.

Unfortunately, it does not quite compare to a world record run by Kejelcha. The race itself was set to be a solo run for the record. Three pacemakers were recruited to carry Kejelcha around the track before he set off on his own. The other nine men in the field were not expected to be a factor.

Erik Sowinski took up the early pacing duties, alongside Christian Harrison. They helped pull Kejelcha through 809 meters in 1:54. Then it was Harun Abda's turn at the front as the third pacemaker. However, less than 100 meters later, Kejelcha made his move into the lead, leaving his help behind as he drove toward the finish.

As Kejelcha willed himself toward the finish line, a second record was on his mind. If possible, he wanted the 1,500-meter record that Tefera had grabbed in Birmingham too.

Kejelcha clicked off the laps, never running slower than 28.5 seconds. He started his kick on the penultimate lap, running 27.78 seconds and passing 1,409 meters in 3:18:54. As long as he could close the last lap in a little under 30 seconds, the mile record would be his. However, could he get the elusive 1,500-meter record as well?

The race clock read 3:31 as Kejelcha crossed the 1,500-meter line, making it painfully close. But with 109 meters still to run, Kejelcha did not focus on that. He kept running all the way to the finish line.

Kejelcha crossed the finish line stopping the clock at 3:47.01. That took more than a second off El Guerrouj's record. Seeing the time come up on the board, Kejelcha started to dance in celebration. He had finally done it. He had broken a world record.

Watch Kejelcha's race on RunnerSpace.com.

The race at the front was the focus, but there were some impressive times finishing behind Kejelcha. Johnny Gregorek finished second in 3:49.98 to become the sixth fastest indoor miler of all-time. He also just missed Bernard Lagat's indoor mile American record by 0.09 seconds. Behind Gregorek was Sam Prakel in 3:50.94.

In all, all nine finishers ran 3:57 or better. The top four, including Henry Wynne, bettered the IAAF World Outdoor Championships qualifying standard for the 1,500 meters.

After the race, there remained tension in the air. The mile record had been broken, but had Kejelcha run fast enough to get the 1,500-meter record as well? Finally confirmation came. Kejelcha had run 3:31.25 en route to his mile record. That was a personal best, but it did not break Tefera's new record. Nor was it enough to leap frog El Guerrouj on the all-time list.

Watch coach Salazar's post-meet interview on RunnerSpace.com.

Nonetheless, it was an impressive performance that further showed Kejelcha's range as a distance runner. He has run 3:47.01 for the mile, 7:28.00 for 3,000 meters, 13:46.79 for 5,000 meters and 59:17 in the half marathon. Few athletes in history have shown that kind of range.

Kejelcha will undoubtedly take a break after his record chasing indoor season. What will he be able to do outdoors? Only time will tell for the 21-year old.



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