World Record Attempt at Bislett on June 12

There’s a reason Bislett Stadium is known as “The World Record Track.” And when a world-class field lines up for the 5000 meters at Bislett Games on Thursday, June 12, they’ll be chasing what could be the 72nd world record set at the venue since Adriaan Paulen established the first one back in 1924.

– We were close last year, says meet director Steinar Hoen.
Hagos Gebrhiwet missed it by just over a second when he clocked 12:36.73 in the 5000 meters.

This year, both Gebrhiwet and his compatriots Yomif Kejelcha, who finished second last year in 12:38.95, and Berihu Aregawi, with a personal best of 12:40.45, are all lining up with one goal in mind: breaking Joshua Cheptegei’s world record of 12:35.36.

Exactly forty years after Said Aouita broke Dave Moorcroft’s 5000-meter world record by one hundredth of a second on the same track.

And we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that the European record held by Spain’s Mohamed Katir (12:45.01) could also be in danger, even without Norway’s own Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen on the starting line. One to watch in that regard is Swiss runner Dominic Lobalu, who ran 12:50.90 to place seventh at Bislett last year.

– We’ve seen enormous interest from athletes wanting to be part of this race, which has allowed us to be very selective, says Hoen.

The plan is for Germany’s Maximilian Thorwirth and Ethiopia’s Gemechu Dida to take on pacemaking duties up to the 3000-meter mark. In a progressively paced race, the hope is that a large group will work together to push for an extraordinary time, provided the conditions are right.

Current start list – all athletes with sub-12:50 personal bests.

(Ranking in the all-time world list in parentheses):

12:36.73 – Hagos Gebrhiwet, ETH (2)
12:38.95 – Yomif Kejelcha, ETH (4)
12:40.45 – Berihu Aregawi, ETH (7)
12:42.70 – Telahun Haile Bekele, ETH (9)
12:45.71 – Jacob Krop, KEN (13)
12:46.33 – Nicholas Kipkorir, KEN (14)
12:47.20 – Mohammed Ahmed, CAN (18)
12:48.10 – Thierry Ndikumwenayo, ESP (19)
12:49.65 – Addisu Yihune, ETH (28)