Meseret Defar became the first woman ever to run two miles in under nine minutes with a superb performance in Friday night’s Golden League meeting in Brussels.

Defar set the previous record of nine minutes 10.47 seconds in May this year in Carson, California, and decimated that figure with another amazing display.

The 23-year-old Ethiopian – who posted a world 5000m record in June and then went on to win the world title – clocked eight minutes 58.58 seconds in the Belgian capital.

After some excellent pacemaking, the Olympic 5000m champion took up the running just before the halfway mark.

She broke clear of her nearest rival, Kenya’s Priscah Ngetich, with a tremendous surge 400 metres later and, showing no sign of tiredness, got quicker and quicker to move into the history books.

Ngetich lowered the Kenyan best performance to 9:14.09 with her countrywoman Sivia Kibet third in 9:16.62.

Source: The Press Association