Addis Ababa, February 5, 2025 (FMC) – Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu clocked a strong 08:24.17 to set the fastest women’s 3000m of the year in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
World indoor 1500m champion Freweyni might only have been racing the third 3000m of her career but she achieved one of the fastest performances of all time at the Czech Indoor Gala – this season’s fourth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting – in Ostrava on Tuesday (4).
On a day that saw many meeting records fall and world leads set, Hailu impressed with a dominant 8:24.17 season opener at the Atleticka hala in the Czech city.
After following the pacemaker through the 1000m mark in 2:52.08 and then clocking 5:45.8 for 2000m, Freweyni picked up the pace over the final five laps. Running 2:39 for the last kilometre, she crossed the finish line in 8:24.17 – a time that moves the Ethiopian 23-year-old to eighth on the world all-time list.
Portugal’s Salome Afonso, who had followed Freweyni in the early stages, finished second in a PB of 8:39.25. Kenya’s Purity Kajuju Gitonga, whose twin sister Caroline paced the race, was third in a PB of 8:39.36, while Great Britain’s 18-year-old Innes FitzGerald improved the European indoor U20 record by more than 10 seconds with her time of 8:40.05 to finish fourth.
“The pacemaker did a brilliant job tonight. I felt comfortable and it was easy to achieve my goal at this meeting,” said Freweyni. “With such a good season opener, I hope I will able to complete our national team for the World Indoor Championships.”