Brian Fay breaks long-standing Irish 5000m record

Brian Fay broke the long-standing Irish 5000m record with a superb time of 13:01.40 at the Night of Athletics meeting in Belgium.

The Dubliner produced the race of his life in Heusden to finish second in a top-quality field.

In the process the 24-year-old knocked two seconds off the previous record which had been held by Alistair Cragg since September 2011.

It marks a significant step forward in Fay's young career.

The time is under the automatic qualifying standard for the World Championships in Budapest as well as next summer’s European Championships in Rome and Olympic Games in Paris.

Fay has been based at the University of Washington since completing his studies at Dublin City University and has enjoyed success at NCAA collegiate level.

In what has been a fruitful 2023 for him so far, he has also lowered his personal bests over 1500m and the mile.