Etienne Daguinos ran the fastest ever 20km by a European athlete for victory on home soil in the 20km de Paris on Sunday (12) morning.
Daguinos, who recently made the 5000m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, stopped the clock at 56:18, the third fastest time in a standalone 20km behind Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese (56:01) and United States’ Conner Mantz (56:16).
Daguinos also smashed the course record of 57:19 set by Kenya's Evans Cheruiyot which had dated back all the way to the 2005 edition of the race.
The 25-year-old, who briefly held the European 10km record last year with 27:04 and won silver at the same distance at the inaugural European Running Championships this year, led a European 1-2-3. His teammate Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse finished second in 56:31 with Spain’s Said Mechaal, the younger brother of Adel, third in 56:32.
In the women’s race which was won by Kenya’s former world U20 3000m champion Mercy Chepwogen also in a course record of 64:58, Manon Trapp was the leading Frenchwoman home in third in 66:15.