18 Jul 2015

New record for Nick Willis

6:49 pm on 18 July 2015

The New Zealand Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis has lopped a quarter of a second off his own national and Oceania 1500 metres record while placing fifth in the Diamond League at Monaco.

New Zealand athlete Nick Willis.

New Zealand athlete Nick Willis. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The race was won by the Kenyan world champion Asbel Kiprop.

Ethiopia's world indoor champion Genzebe Dibaba broke the 22-year-old world women's 1,500 metres record with a time of three minutes 50.07 seconds.

The younger sister of three-times Olympic gold medallist and world 5,000 metres record holder Tirunesh Dibaba, ran the final lap on her own after the pacemaker dropped out.

Chinese Qu Yunxia's set the previous mark of 3:50.46 in Beijing on Sept. 11, 1993.

American Justin Gatlin, the fastest man in the world this year, set a meeting record in the 100 metres when he clocked 9.78 seconds ahead of another former world champion Tyson Gay.

It was Gatlin's last outing on the track before his expected showdown with defending champion Usain Bolt at next month's Beijing world championships.

France's world record holder Renaud Lavillenie, beaten in both his last two Diamond League meetings, was a popular winner of the men's pole vault, clearing 5.92 metres before failing three times at 6.02.

American Joe Kovacs hurled the men's shot put 22.56 metres in the second round to record the longest distance since 2003 and propel himself to eighth in the all time list.

New Zealand's Tom Walsh placed fourth.

Tom Walsh

Tom Walsh Photo: PHOTOSPORT