Weltklasse Ritzenhein!

Dathan Ritzenhein Sets New American 5000-Meter Record of 12:56.27

Well, what a happy astonishing sight this was for anyone watching the Universal Sports feed of the Weltklasse meet in Zurich. The always confident Ritzenhein, having come off a sixth place 27:22 showing in the 10,000 at the World Championships in Berlin, was looking to severely reduce his personal best of 13:16 in the 5000. Still, who would have expected to see, in the last kilometer in Zurich, that the guy storming from behind and gaining on leader (and eventual winner in 12:52.32) Kenenisa Bekele was the American Ritzenhein, who moved into second briefly before taking third behind Kenya's Edwin Soi and not only stomping the bejeezus out of his own best time but actually erasing 13-year-old Bob Kennedy's U.S. record of 12:58.21. Along with the continuing medal-winning ways of Bernard Lagat, this is the most exciting news in men's long distance running in quite some time.

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Ritz video interview after breaking the American record in the 5k
Dathan Ritzenhein suprissed everyone including himself by breaking Bob Kennedy's American 5k record. Ritz did it on a cool nigh in Zurich, when he finished 3rd in a time of 12:56.27. He is the 3rd fastest non-african and the 3rd American to break 13 mins.


12:56.27, August 28, 2009, Zürich, Switzerland

Dathan Ritzenhein Breaks Bob Kennedy's 5,000m American Record

Thirteen years after Bob Kennedy became the first American to break 13:00 for the 5,000m, Dathan Ritzenhein improbably bettered the mark in the same venue where it was originally set. The old mark was 12:58.21, set on August 14, 1996. The new mark, set by a man who had run only 13:34.00 this year and had a previous personal best of 13:16.06, is an ear-popping 12:56.27.

Looking at the all-time 5,000m lists, only two men born outside the continent of Africa have run faster than Ritzenhein. Germany's Dieter Baumann ran 12:54.70 in Zürich in 1997 before later serving a doping suspension and Aussie Craig Mottram ran 12:55.76 in London just over five years ago.

All of the attention in the race centered around Kenenisa Bekele, coming back from his 10,000m/5,000m double win at the Berlin World Championships, and hoping to stay in contention for the $1,000,000 Golden League Jackpot. There had been talk of a world record attempt, and the early pace was 2:30 for the first kilometer. No fewer than ten Kenyans were entered in the race to either rabbit the great Ethiopian or attempt to defeat him.

One non-African was in the field. He was in last, and after a few laps he was being dropped from the single-file chain of competitors. An opening 1,600 of 4:04 for the leaders appeared to be having quite a negative effect on Ritzenhein, the first non-African finisher in the 10,000m in Berlin and the new pupil of former outstanding runner and now world-renowned American distance coach Alberto Salazar.

With a gap emerging between Ritzenhein and the second-to-last competitor not once but several times in the first 3,000m in the race, one could hardly expect the monumental outcome that occurred over the final laps. But within a few minutes, several of the African runners started to crack and fade badly. Laps of 60 and 62 became 63 and 64, even for Bekele, and for the others they were becoming 66 or slower.

Ritz, however, kept the pace going. 12:56.27 for the 5,000m is almost exactly 62-seconds per lap (62.11 would estimate his average lap time more accurately). Off the back a bit early on, Ritz was able to maintain his rhythm and with three or four laps to go, all of a sudden he had caught a... READ ON