Gudaf Triumphs world indoor mile race in Poland 

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay stormed to second on the world indoor 1500m race all-time list, clocking 4:16.16 for a runaway victory in the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, according to the sport’s governing body World Athletics (WA).

The race, the season’s third World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, was held in Poland’s Torun on Wednesday night.

After breaking the world indoor 1500m record with a 3:53.09 run at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin in 2021, Gudaf went to Torun targeting the world indoor mile record of 4:13.31.

The record was set by her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba in 2016 in Stockholm and Gudaf was a runner-up in that race, clocking 4:24.98 as an 18-year-old.

Seven years and six global medals later, the 26-year-old set the second-fastest time in history in the women’s mile with 4:16.16 on Wednesday.

According to the WA’s report, the world 5000m champion and world indoor 1500m gold medallist showed her intent right from the start and followed the pacemaker through 400m in 1:01.1. 

Although the pace slowed, Gudaf was led to 800m in 2:07.21 and continued on to clock 3:11.26 at 1200m. She eventually won by almost 13 seconds. Poland’s Weronika Lizakowska finished second in 4:29.06 and Jamaica’s Adelle Tracey third in 4:30.17.

After the race, Gudaf said, “I was hoping for the world record today, but athletics is like that,” Gudaf said. “You can feel you are in great shape in training, but you don’t always do what you want in competition.”

“I still hope the world record will be mine one day,” the Ethiopian athlete said.

Featured Image: Gudaf Tsegay on her way to 1500m victory in Torun (photo © Adam Nurkiewicz via WA)