Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who at 16 is already the youngest sub-4-minute miler in history, lowered that mark by another two seconds at a Diamond League meet in Oslo on Thursday.
Ingebrigtsen won a mile race in 3 minutes, 56.29 seconds. Three weeks ago, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest man to break four minutes in the mile by running 3:58.07 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
“I believe that I could run at least one second faster [than at the Pre Classic] if I had the right pace from the beginning, so I’m really happy,” Ingebrigtsen said Thursday. “This is probably the best day that can happen to me. ... There’s no limits. It’s up to myself how fast I can run.”
Full Oslo results are here. Many U.S. stars sat out the meet as they prepare for next week’s national championships, a qualifier for worlds in London in August.
In other events Thursday, favorites Caster Semenya and Andre De Grasse and Dafne Schippers all won races.
Semenya, the scrutinized South African, extended her 800m winning streak to 17 meets dating to 2015. She beat a field including Olympic silver and bronze medalists Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui. Niyonsaba was closest, finished .59 behind Semenya, who won in her typical relaxed fashion.
De Grasse had a much closer victory. He held off Brit C.J. Ujah by .01 in the 100m, clocking 10.01 seconds with a .2 meter/second tailwind.
De Grasse, who took 100m bronze and 200m silver behind Usain Bolt in Rio, ranks No. 14 in the world this year in the 100m, but he is known to ease his way into a season.
Schippers, the Olympic 200m silver medalist, ran under protest after a false start. She crossed the finish line first in 22.31 seconds but was later DQ’d for the infraction. She appealed, and 45 minutes later was reinstated as the winner.
Her clocking was well of the fastest time in the world this year of 21.77 set by Tori Bowie.
In the high jump, two-time Olympic medalist Mutaz Barshim of Qatar cleared 2.38 meters, the highest in the world this year. He beat a field that included the top five from Rio.
The Diamond League season continues in Stockholm on Sunday, with coverage on NBC Sports Gold starting at 9:15 a.m. ET.
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