Hassan breaks women’s mile world record with 4:12.33 run in Monaco

Propelled by a powerful 62-second closing lap, Sifan Hassan broke the world record* in the women’s mile tonight, clocking 4:12.33 at the Herculis EBS IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco.

The 26-year-old Dutchwoman knocked 0.23 from the previous mark of 4:12.56 set by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia in 1996, when Hassan was just three years old.

After an opening 800 metres of 2:08.5 – Masterkova clocked 2:06.9 during her world record run – it appeared that the record would be out of reach for Hassan. But, running alone, she accelerated on the third lap, reaching 1200m in 3:10.2, exactly two seconds up on Masterkova and powered on to claim the first outdoor world record on the track in 2019.

Laura Weightman of Great Britain was second in 4:17.60 with Gabriella Debues-Stafford of Canada third in 4:17.87, a national record.

Race report: Hassan breaks women’s mile world record with 4:12.33 run in Monaco

Profile

Born in Adama, Ethiopia, in 1993, Hassan left her homeland as a refugee in 2008, arriving in the Netherlands at age 15. She began running soon thereafter and less than a decade later had produced a record of extraordinary range that would rank her among the finest middle and long distance runners of all-time.

Her rise into the global ranks began in December 2013 with her European U23 cross country title, one month after gaining Dutch citizenship. Her appearances on continental and global podiums haven’t stopped since.

The following July she signalled herself as a rising 1500m force, clocking 3:57.00 to win the Paris leg of the IAAF Diamond League. Her big stage breakthrough came a month later at the 2014 European Championships in Zurich where she took gold in the 1500m and silver in the 5000m.

In 2015, she took the European indoor 1500m title and bronze over the distance at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing. Her first global title came at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland where she raced to victory in the 1500m. That remains her only global gold. Hasan finished fifth in the Olympic 1500m final in Rio, and fifth again at the World Championships in London.

In 2018 she improved her proficiency over longer distances, clocking 14:22.34 to break the European 5000m record in Rabat in July and 1:05:15 for the half marathon in Copenhagen in September, another Area record. That came just a month after she took the European 5000m title and eight days after she sped to an 8:27.50 3000m victory at the Continental Cup in Ostrava, the fastest time in the world that season.

Her momentum continued in 2019. In her first race of the year, she set a world record for 5km on the road, clocking 14:44 on 17 February in Monaco. On 30 June, she broke the European 3000m record at the Prefontaine Classic in Stanford, California, clocking 8:18.48, the fastest time in the world since 1993. Twelve days later, she improved her own national 1500m record in Rabat, clocking 3:55.93. She lowered that to 3:55.30 en route to her world record mile run on Friday night.

Personal bests

World all-time women’s mile top 10

Women’s mile world record progression

* pending the usual ratification procedures

IAAF