Aregawi Targets Indoor World Record in Stockholm

Published by the IAAF on November 20, 2013

World 1500m champion Abeba Aregawi will head to Stockholm on 6 February for the XL Galan, an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting, with the sole aim of breaking the World indoor record for the metric mile.

The 23-year-old Swede came agonisingly close to the mark earlier this year, clocking 3:58.40 – the second-fastest time in history and just 0.12 away from the World indoor record.

“I’ve been training hard in order to break the World indoor record at the XL Galan,” said Aregawi, who has been undefeated in the 1500m since 17 August 2012. “It was such a great atmosphere and now I’ll try everything I can to run even faster.”

Aregawi’s first victory at the XL Galan came at the 2011 when she clocked 4:01.47 while still a relative unknown. In 2012 she improved to 3:56.54 to set an Ethiopian record and the following year, having switched to represent Sweden, she set another national record for her adopted nation with 3:56.60.

As well as winning the World title in Moscow, earlier this year she also won the European indoor title over her specialist distance, competing in front of a home crowd in Gothenburg.

Aregawi, who has this autumn training around Addis Ababa, is now focused on winning another major title.

“I get good training conditions in Ethiopia, which is why I train down there, and then I’ll go back to Sweden for the XL Galan,” she said. “That is my big goal for the season, along with the World Indoor Championships in Poland.”