What That Guy Did Today Should Be Impossible

Andreas Almgren delivered the biggest win of his career by taking European Championship gold in the 10,000 meters, smashing the championship record after dominating the field from the front. "It was do or die. It can't get any better than this, Almgren told SVT Sport.

Almgren had a group of lapped runners behind him on the home straight and could afford to ease off with a smile, savoring Sweden's first European title in the 10,000 meters. His winning time was 27:23.44, with the runner-up not even having reached the home straight. "It was terrible.

What that guy did today should be impossible. The plan was for him to go after 13 laps (5,200 meters). A championship record after the first kilometer at 3:16 is completely insane.

They got grilled, said coach Urban Aruhn, who was lost for words with emotion. After a cautious start, Almgren took the lead at the first kilometer and grilled the field with a high, even pace — a very high pace. "I ran at European record speed today.

If anyone was going to beat me, they would have to suffer, and I suffered myself over the last four laps; it felt like my legs disappeared, said Almgren, who celebrated with 1,500-meter silver medalist Samuel Pihlström. "The fastest I ran today was from 200 meters out to meet Samuel; I almost became happier than when I crossed the finish line myself, said a hoarse Almgren about his roommate. "He was too strong for the rest of us, and he had a good tactic since I had already run the 5,000 meters, said last year's world champion Jimmy Gressier, who took bronze.

Just before seven kilometers, Almgren got a small gap and just kept pushing at the front. "It's absolutely fantastic. It's one of the toughest things I've seen — just running away from everyone else.

What kind of form is he in? It's a rout of rare proportions. It could have been a suicide tactic, exclaimed SVT commentator Jacob Hård at the surge that produced a kilometer in 2:34. Would any runner in the whole world have kept up with Almgren today? Hård asked.