Florence (Italy) (AFP)

Huge sensation in Florence: the Norwegian prodigy Jakob Ingebrigtsen smashed the European record of 5000 m (12 min 48 sec 45), Thursday during the Diamond League meeting, offering himself the scalp of the king of the world middle distance Joshua Cheptegei , only 6th.

We were expecting a new festival from the Ugandan but it was the youngest of the Ingebrigtsen siblings (20) who made an impression, stealing the show from the world record holder in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Dominant on the continental scene, the Nordic phenomenon was passing a very serious test against the Africans a month and a half before the Tokyo Olympics.

He amply succeeded in his mission, positioning himself as a very serious contender for the title in Tokyo.

The next few weeks will tell if Cheptegei's mishap was just an accident or a sign of Ingebrigtsen's future takeover.

But the Norwegian may have already taken a little psychological ascendancy before the big explanation planned in Japan between the two men.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly for Cheptegei, at the helm of the race at the halfway point.

But the Ugandan, who was playing his first 5,000m since his world record (12 min 35 sec 36), on August 14, 2020, suddenly let himself be taken down in the final just when Jakob Ingebrigtsen began to point the end of his nose at the forefront.

Blessed bread for the Norwegian who dropped all his rivals to set a record-breaking time, exploding his personal best which dated from July 2019 (13:02:03).

Cheptegei had said the day before that the Norwegian was the "man of the moment", capable of going down under 13 minutes.

He didn't think so well put it.

"I felt strong, I was very good in training, I knew I had the means to be fast but at the same time I was really nervous because the 5000m is very hard, reacted Ingebrigtsen. I felt a lot of energy in the first few laps, I was able to keep a steady pace but in the end it was probably the guy who wanted the most who was going to win. "

- Hassan walks -

Among the ladies, it was the performance of Sifan Hassan that was scrutinized.

Five days after beating the 10,000m world record in Hengelo, improved on Tuesday by the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, the Dutch rider over 1,500m with the best world performance of the year (3 min 53 sec 63).

Come to refine his speed in Italy, Hassan, gold medalist over the distance at the Doha Worlds in 2019, fulfilled his contract.

"I'm very surprised with my time, as I was on Sunday with my world record," she said. "It wasn't my goal to run so fast."

The 110m hurdles was another highlight of the evening with the victory of Olympic title holder Omar McLeod with the best time of 2021 (13 sec 01).

On the French side, the results are more mixed.

If Wilhem Belocian, 3rd in 13 sec 31, made his fastest race of the season, the lights are red for the moment for Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.

Returning to the track after two injuries (hamstring, adductor), the 2018 European champion seemed embarrassed and unable to keep up with his opponents.

PML, who admitted Wednesday having to deal with recurrent tendonitis since his thigh glitch last winter, preferred to cut his effort after the 3rd hurdle to rank 8th in 14 sec 26.

"I think I ran in a smart way, he explained. I did a very good warm-up, everything went well but after the 3rd hurdle, I felt my hamstring from this winter pulling me. and immediately I understood that I had to stay safe. It's a shame. In the second part of the race, it was impossible to put on because I really scared myself. But everything is fine. "

© 2021 AFP