European record holder Andreas Almgren: This is the most memorable night of my life

Swedish athlete Andreas Almgren broke the European 5,000m record at home with an impressive victory at the Diamond League in Stockholm.

Running the last two laps in 59.90 sec and 58.07 sec respectively, Andreas Almgren triumphed in the Swedish capital with a European record of 12:44.27 min. This came just 10 minutes after his compatriot Armand Duplantis broke the world record for the pole vault, leaving his achievement in the shadow of his illustrious compatriot.

Andreas Almgren broke Mohamed Katir’s previous European record of 12:45.01 min by less than a second. The Swedish athlete, who also holds the European record for the 10km with a time of 26:53 min, also moved up to tenth place in the all-time 5,000m rankings.

“This is probably the most memorable night of my life and career so far. I felt terrible at the start of previous Diamond Leagues in Stockholm, but this year I wanted to give my best. I wanted to give the fans in my hometown something to remember”, said Andreas Almgren, who began his career as a middle-distance runner before moving on to longer distances. “I had the European record in mind this season, so I’m very happy to have broken that, along with the Swedish record and the stadium record. If I look back nine years ago, right here in this stadium, I broke my navicular bone, which led to about five years of injuries. I’m so happy and proud to be back here and to have achieved this”, added he.

Watch the interview with the happy runner: