Kenyan becomes sixth quickest woman in history with 2:16:28 in the Japanese capital on Sunday while Gelmisa wins exciting three-way sprint in mens race

Rosemary Wanjiru took more than a minute and a half off her best to clock a fast 2:16:28 at the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.

The Japanese-based Kenyan won by 28 seconds from Tsehay Gemechu of Ethiopia, who clocked 2:16:56, while 2019 Berlin champion Ashete Bekere of Ethiopia was third in 2:19:11.

Wanjiru made her move at around the 40km mark and looked on course to break Brigid Kosgeis course record of 2:16:02 before cruising home a little outside that mark.

Gelmisa won a thrilling mens race as he clocked the same time of 2:05:22 as fellow Ethiopian Mohamed Esa with Tsgegaye Getachew just three seconds further behind.

Gelmisa won the Paris Marathon last year and here led an Ethiopian sweep of the podium places.

Cam Levins of Canada ran a North American record of 2:05:36 in fifth, beating a record set by Khalid Khannouchi in 2002.

All-time womens marathon rankings

2:14:04 Brigid Kosgei, Chicago 2019
2:14:18 Ruth Chepngetich, Chicago 2022
2:14:58 Amane Beriso Shankule, Valencia 2022
2:15:25 Paula Radcliffe, London 2003
2:15:37 Tigist Assefa, Berlin 2022
2:16:28 Rosemary Wanjuru, Tokyo 2023
2:16:49 Letesenbet Gidey, Valencia 2022
2:16:56 Tsehay Gemechu, Tokyo 2023
2:17:01 Mary Keitany, London 2017
2:17:16 Peres Jepchirchir, Valencia 2020
2:17:20 Almaz Ayana, Amsterdam 2022
2:17:23 Yalemzerf Yehualaw, Hamburg 2022

Scot becomes first British athlete in history to win five gold medals at the European Indoor Championships

Laura Muir contemplated the 1500m/3000m double at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul but was focused on winning gold in one of those events.

The decision to race in just the 1500m, similar to the one she took at last years European Championships, was well and truly vindicated.

In winning her fifth gold medal at the Euro Indoors, Muir now stands alone at the top of the tree of British athletes who have competed at the championships.

Colin Jackson and Jason Gardener both have four gold medals while Verona Elder has three.

The fact that Muirs five golds are spread over both the 1500m and 3000m three and two respectively highlights her durability and ability to dig deep when it matters.

That was evident once again at the Ataköy Arena.

Muir, like she has always done, hit the front and upped the pace at around 1200m, establishing a gap that looked tricky to plug.

In the last 100m however, Claudia Bobocea launched a late surge and although she closed up, the Romanian ran out of track to potentially snatch the gold medal from Muirs grasp. The pair clocked 4:03.40 and 4:03.76 respectively. Bobocea took her career to another level in the process as she achieved a personal best and claimed a first major championships medal.

Muir did enough though and crossed the line with her traditional celebration of raising her right arm in the air.

This championships means a lot to me and its where I won my first international medal, she told AW. I knew that doing a double was special but I wanted to get five golds because no one has done that from the British team before. Im over the moon. I wanted to come here and win and Im so happy.

I was keeping a very close eye on the screen. I knew I was in front and although they were gaining I was aware I had that gap. Going over the line, I was thinking I shouldnt try to faceplate to the ground! I knew I had enough to surge again if I needed to.

Its such an honour to win again and you could tell how much it meant to me. Its so surreal [to win five gold medals]. Its a bit of a pinch me moment! Every time it means a lot.

To be honest we didnt make any big goals to come here. But Ive been to the championships before and you appreciate the races when youre here and you get to perform for your country.

Polands Sofia Ennaoui completed the podium and also recorded a personal best with 4:04.06.

It was a day of what couldve been for both Katie Snowden and Ellie Baker however as the two other Brits in the final finished fifth and 11th respectively.

Im a little bit disappointed, I really feel like a medal there was up for grabs and I think had I raced how I felt at the start of the season I probably could have got one today so yeah that was frustrating, Snowden said. Fifth is still up there and I feel I am getting more competitive but I really need to make that next step and get up there on the podium.

I think I am getting better at understanding how the race is going to go and positioning myself much better accordingly. But today was more like I just didnt have the legs it wasnt that I made silly moves or didnt go with it when I thought I should have I really couldnt.

Bakers hopes going into the Euro Indoors were high after she made history at the UKA Indoor Championships (February 19) by breaking Zola Budds 1500m championship record from 1986.

The word I would use is confused, Baker added. As I felt in really good shape and the last few weeks has gone well in training, I felt strong but today I had no legs and from the start I was struggling so it was confusing when you think youre in a good place but youre not feeling like that in a race.

Well go back to the drawing board and go again. I was a bit gutted when I could feel them going away from me as I came here wanting to medal and get that for the team, but when I felt it coming away from me I knew my legs were gone and lost my stride a bit towards the end. Its one of those things I will come back stronger and it adds more fuel to the fire!

Ive taken a lot of things from this season and I feel like Im in a good place. I have run a PB and I am in a good place but I just want to be more competitive in these championships.

Ahead of her London Marathon debut next month the 32-year-old runs a brilliant 30:00.86 to win the Sound Running Ten in California

Eilish McColgan enjoyed an historic run at the Sound Running Ten on Saturday evening in San Juan Capistrano, California, as she out-kicked long-time leader Alicia Monson of the United States to win in 30:00.86.

The time saw her improve Paula Radcliffes British 10,000m record of 30:01.09 which was set when winning the European title in Munich in 2002. On that day 21 years ago, Radcliffe famously splashed her way through monsoon conditions and, whereas it wasnt quite as wet in California on Saturday, McColgan also ran through rain in the closing laps.

After Josette Andrews took Monson and McColgan through halfway in 15:08, the British record looked a long shot but McColgan was definitely on pace to improve her own Scottish record of 30:19.02.

However the metronomic series of 72-73sec laps mid-race crept up into 71sec territory in the closing stages and the penultimate lap was 70sec before McColgan unleashed a terrific final lap of 64.87. Making her move past Monson with 300m to go, she ran her final 200m in roughly 30sec to shave 23 hundredths of a second off Radcliffes record.

Monson was not far behind in second in an American record of 30:03.82.

Amazingly McColgan ran the time in her first track race of the year and after an injury-hit build-up and was racing with a black strapping on her left knee.

She said: Im absolutely buzzing. Two years ago I ran a big PB here so its nice to be back with the crowds. I knew I was in really good shape but to have it all come together on the day doesnt always happen.

BRITISH RECORD

A truly stunning achievement by @EilishMccolgan

In clocking 30:00.86 at the @sound_running Ten in California, she breaks the previous record of 30:01.09 set by @paulajradcliffe back at Munich 2002

A historic run pic.twitter.com/tXKdczCKKy

AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 5, 2023

McColgan was a late entry into the Sound Running event and explained: I thought eff it, Im going to give it a go. Im building up for London Marathon and have had a few niggles and missed some prep races in January and a half-marathon in February but Im really strong right now so Im glad I did it.

The marathon is going to be a big challenge. I think Ill run a good 20 miles but that last 10km is going to be tough.

Radcliffe set a world marathon record of 2:15:25 one year after her 10,000m national record so it will be interesting to see how close McColgan can get to that kind of performance on the roads on April 23.

McColgan now holds British records for 5000m, 10,000m, 5km, 10km and half-marathon and memorably won the Commonwealth 10,000m title in Birmingham last year.

Dutch 1-2 as Femke Bol records yet another sub-50 time at the distance

There could not have been many athletes who have had a better indoor season than Femke Bol.

Before the European Indoor Championships, she had already broken Jarmila Kratochvílovas 41-year-old world 400m record one of the longest standing marks in the history of the sport with a stunning time of 49.26 and also became the fastest female in history over 500m indoors, clocking 1:05.63.

In the nine races she has competed in, ranging from the 200m to the 500m, Bol hasnt lost a single one.

So there was an inevitability about her striking gold at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

The fact that she clocked 49.85 and went sub-50 again wasnt a surprise as well. Its the third time shes done it this season.

As soon as the gun sounded, Bol, from lane five leapt out the blocks and looked immense, making up the stagger on Dutch teammate Lieke Klaver, before taking to the front and not looking back from 200m onwards.

Klaver finished second to Bol at the Dutch Indoor Championships. The fact that she clocked 50.34 in that race proved that a second-placed finish and silver medal in Istanbul was no fluke.

Its a breakthrough moment for Klaver who claimed the first individual major medal of her career. An integral part of the Dutch relay team, she is a European indoor and outdoor 4x400m champion and Olympic and world silver medallist in the distance.

Bols tally of medals and records grows by the day. The fact she is still 23 is frightening.

The race was nice, just like all races on championships like these, she said. It is very cool, especially that my teammates are also on the podium. It makes it even more special that I could defend my title, and become European Champion for the second time in a row.

I have multiple European titles, but the world title is still missing. The world record is step one. Coming to Istanbul with a world record, I could feel that everybody wanted me to go even faster, and expected that I could easily run a world record again.

Double Dutch as Femke Bol wins European indoor 400m gold ahead of Lieke Klaver.

Bol clocks 49.85 at #Istanbul2023 to take victory in style from her team-mate. pic.twitter.com/4dUvxSxEep

AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 4, 2023

Klaver was overjoyed to share the podium with Bol and with the pair joining up to race for the Dutch 4x400m team tomorrow (March 5), they will be formidable opponents.

Finally, I have an individual medal on a big championship, Klaver added. I felt I could do it today. I was more hopeful and confident than normal. If everything went according to how I wanted it, I knew I could achieve a silver medal today.

The first part of the race, I had to run my own race. After that, I could follow Femke [Bol] and had to stay as close as possible. Before the race, we hadnt discussed any plans. Of course, we could taste each others plans, but it is not something we discuss before the race.

I think we have a big chance of winning gold in the relay tomorrow, but there is a difference between hoping and performing. In the relay, you never know what is going to happen. We go for gold.

Polands Anna Kiełbasińska made up the podium and finished a fair way back in third with 51.25. Austrian Susanne Gogl-Walli was fourth but did clock a national record 51.73.