Ali Kaya rewrote the record books once again on Sunday with a brilliant performance at the Istanbul Half Marathon.
In the week of his 22nd birthday, the Turkish star won in 60:16 to break his European under-23 mark by 1:05, a time he had set in Adana in January last year.
Not only that, his performance was the fourth best ever by a European, regardless of age group, and the second quickest in 2016 behind Great Britain’s Mo Farah (59:59).
Just to rubber stamp his performance even more, Kaya beat the world record-holder, Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese, by a stunning 15 seconds.
His time in front of his home crowd was a national record but a slow opening 5km (15:04) put pay to breaking the hour mark.
Kaya, who is concentrating on the track this summer, said: 'I finished with lot of power, I could have been faster.'
Tadese, whose world record stands at 58:23, was second (60:31) with Kenyan Leonard Langat (60:39) in third.
It truly was a weekend to remember for European athletes competing on the roads.
The Half Marathon takes on extra significance this year with the event making its debut at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam in July, and one woman counting down the days (there are 76 until the race) is Germany’s Sabrina Mockenhaupt.
Running for her LG Sieg club in Bad Liebenzell on Saturday, Mockenhaupt led all the way as she won the German Half Marathon Championships in 1:12:41, dipping inside the Amsterdam qualifying time of 1:13:00.
[FACEBOOK ID='https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/photos/a.360864916180.203403.208150086180/10154021903036181/?type=3&theater']
Amazingly, it was the 35-year-old’s 41st title as she beat Agata Strausa (1:13:13) and Melina Tränkle (1:14:09).
Now, for the Netherlands. 'I am overjoyed and super happy that I ran this good time after such a long break from competition and that I made the standard for the European Championship,' said Mockenhaupt, speaking to Leichtathletik.
As Kenya’s Jemima Jelagat (2:22:58) overcame a fall to win the London Marathon, Belarusian Volha Mazuronak produced the performance of her life to finish fourth (2:23:54).
Her personal best came with splits of 73:19/70:35 and will give her so much impetus as she heads towards the Olympic Games in Rio.
Britain’s Callum Hawkins was the leading European in the men’s race, finishing eighth (2:10:52) - and securing his spot for Rio - as Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge ran the second fastest of all time, missing the world record by a mere eight seconds in 2:03:05. Germany’s national record-holder Arne Gabius stopped after halfway with a stomach spasm.
[FACEBOOK ID='https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/photos/a.360864916180.203403.208150086180/10154022836366181/?type=3&theater']
Poland celebrated a glorious one-two in the men’s race at the Warsaw Marathon, which doubled as the national championships.
In 2:11:54, Artur Kozlowski beat compatriot Henryk Szost by 46 seconds with Kenya’s Charles Munyeki in third (2:12:57).
At the Dusseldorf Marathon, Romania’s defending champion Marius Ionescu (2:13:00) broke his personal best to finish second behind Kenyan Japhet Kosgei (2:10:46) while Germany’s Hendrik Pfeiffer (2:13:11) achieved the Olympic qualifying time in third. The women’s race saw victory for Hungary’s Zsofia Erdelyi (2:35:37) ahead of Beverly Ramos of Puerto Rico (2:36:31) and Belgium’s Hanna Vandenbusche (2:39:50).
Chia Laguna, the home of this December’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships, saw a double Italian triumph on Sunday, as Stefano La Rosa won the Half Marathon (70:07) and Anna Incerti (35:12) won the 10km.
There are 35 events across Europe this week. For full information, visit the event calendar.