Three-time U.S. 1,500m
champion Alan Webb on Saturday broke the American record in the mile,
clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium. The
mark breaks the record of 3:47.69 set by National Track & Field Hall of
Famer Steve Scott in 1982 and makes Webb the eighth-fastest man in history,
behind Hicham El Guerrouj, Noah Ngeny, Noureddine Morceli, Steve Cram,
Daniel Komen, Venuste Niyongabo and Said Aouita.
Webb's agent, Ray Flynn,
reports unofficial quarter-mile splits for Webb during the race as 56.1,
57.4, 56.8 and 56.2.
Held on a 6-lane track,
Saturday's race is part of a career-best year for Webb. In February, he won
his first U.S. indoor title in the mile before going on a tear during the
outdoor season. On April 28, he ran 3:51.71 to break Scott's mile record at
the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. On June 24 in Indianapolis, he ran
3:34.82 in the 1,500 to break Scott's meet record at the AT&T USA
Outdoor Championships, where Webb won his third career national title.
The biggest win of Webb's
career came July 6 in Paris, when he ran a personal-best 1,500m time of
3:30.54, the fastest time in the world in 2007. As recently as Monday, Webb
set a new personal best in the 800 meters, running 1:45.80 in Malmo, Sweden.
Steve Scott wasn't caught
by surprise when he learned of the record from one of the athletes he
coaches.
"I want to personally
congratulate Alan," Scott said. "I anticipated it being broken.
After his 1:45 and his 3:30, you knew he was capable of it. It was just a
matter of having the right pace and conditions. Even if conditions weren't
perfect, he's so strong, I knew he could do it. I had a prediction of 3:46.5
for him.
"I'm happy that it
was Alan who broke it, and I believe at the end of the day, when all is said
and done, that people will consider him the greatest distance runner America
has ever had. He has such range, he's so young and he's accomplished so
much. I have nothing to be ashamed of, losing the record to him. "
