Last weekend, Hungarian athlete Gergely Kiss ran a new personal best time in the 3000m. Racing indoors in Budapest, Kiss recorded a time of 8:23.85.
That knocked over 25 seconds off his previous best time which he set back in 2018.
Running in the same field as Kiss was Csongor Lehmann, the 2021 world U23 champion. Lehmann ran a time of 8:23.42 which also represented a personal best. Although, his previous personal best was only half a second slower and was set back in 2020 (also indoors). It appears, then, that Lehmann may have paced Kiss to his time.
Kiss is the defending silver medallist from the World U23 Championships in Abu Dhabi. That day, he produced the joint fastest run time of the field.
He is still 21 (he turns 22 in April) and shows great promise. Indeed his performance in Budapest stands up well to comparison with some of the best contemporary runners in the men’s WTCS.
The most direct comparison can be drawn with Hayden Wilde. At the same age, Wilde ran a time of 8:28.22 (which he did in January 2019). Since then, Wilde has continued to hack substantial time off his personal best and has become one of the foremost runners in the world of triathlon.
Kiss’ time also compares favourably with a number of other elite triathletes. Just before his 19th birthday, in January 2009, Mario Mola ran a 8:37.70. Meanwhile, Kristian Blummenfelt ran a 8:40.33 as an 18 year old too.
While those times are a little slower than Kiss’ new best, they also came at younger ages so there is an element of distinction to be drawn.
It should also be noted that, in 2020, Alex Yee ran a 7:45.81 3000m at the age of 22. Yee’s abilities on the track, though, can be matched by few. After all, he is one of the exceedingly few triathletes to represent his country internationally in athletics at the senior level.
Kiss enters 2023 on a run of great form. Aside from his silver at U23 worlds, he won two consecutive bronzes at European Cups in Alhandra and Tiszaujvaros.
Armed with a three race medal streak and this latest personal best, he can have high hopes for the season ahead.
