Athletics – Belgian Athlete Breaks European 2,000-Metre Record

The world’s athletics elite gathered on the Boston track in the United States for the season’s first major indoor meeting of 2026. In a breathtaking race over 2,000 metres, Pieter Sisk succeeded in keeping pace with the relentless tempo set by Americans Grant Fisher and Hobbs Kessler. The latter went on to deliver the greatest indoor performance ever recorded over the distance, overtaking his compatriot on the final lap and stopping the clock at 4:48.79, beating the 4:49.99 set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in 2007.

The Belgian runner had the great virtue of maintaining the rhythm set by the American pair and securing a superb third place with an unexpected time of 4:52.41. In doing so, Pieter Sisk lowered by eight seconds the 53‑year‑old Belgian record held by Emiel Puttemans, and even more impressively, he surpassed by a few tenths of a second the European record of Spain’s Sergio Sánchez, which had stood since 2010.

The 26-year-old from Leuven now proudly stands fifth on the all-time rankings for the 2,000 metres, one place ahead of athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie (4:52.86 in 1998).

Let’s applaud this outstanding performance from the Belgian athlete!