Genzebe Dibaba breaks 26-year-old world indoor mile record

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba shattered the women’s world indoor mile record on Wednesday, clocking 4:13.31 to eclipse the time of 4:17.14 set 26 years ago by Romanian Doina Melinte.

It is the third time Dibaba, 25, has broken a world record in Stockholm, having previously set new marks for the 3,000 and 5,000 metres at the Ericsson Globe Arena in the Swedish capital.

Dibaba, who was born 364 days after the previous record was set by Melinte in 1990, set a punishing pace early on before breaking away from the field and powering through the eight laps.

She crossed the line more than 10 seconds clear of fellow Ethiopians Gudaf Tsegay and Axumawit Embaye, who finished second and third respectively.

Earlier in the evening Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman set a new men’s world indoor record for the 1,000 metres, clocking 2:14.20 to beat the 2:14.96 mark set by Wilson Kipketer of Denmark in 2000.