Yeshnil Karan

A new national 5000 meters record has been set by Yeshnil Karan.

The 22-year-old from Yaladro, Tavua, broke the national record by 15 seconds for the 5,000m, at the Queensland 5,000m Championships at UQ Tracks on Saturday.

Karan clocked a very impressive time of 14 mins 31.73 secs to improve his previous best by a massive 55 seconds.

In doing so, he broke the record of 14 mins 46.40 secs set by Davendra Prakash Singh, in Melbourne, in November 1993 and bettered performances by legends such as Rick Kermode and Usaia Sotutu.

20-year-old Evueli Toia, from Delakado Village Tailevu, improved his time by 56 seconds to clock 15 mins 40.70 secs, to move to number 10 on the All-time Ranking List, ahead of the celebrated Shiri Chand “Mushroom” personal best time 47 years ago in 1976. Evueli finished on only 0.07 seconds behind 2022 Pacific Mini Games Silver medalist Siune Kagl, from PNG, in his race.

Karan and Toia will feature at the Pacific Games in two weeks.