Charles Philibert-Thiboutot is continuing to rewrite the Quebec middle-distance record books, but he is not yet satisfied.
Posted at 12:52 p.m.
Three weeks after his Canadian record in the 5 km on the road achieved in Boston, the 31-year-old runner broke the provincial mark in the 5000 m, Friday evening, in California.
In his first track race of the outdoor season, Philibert-Thiboutot finished seventh at the Sound Running Track Meet, won by Norwegian prodigy Jakob Ingebrigsten, in San Juan Capistrano, south of Los Angeles.
His time of 3 min 12.71 sec, a personal best by almost 10 seconds, allowed him to erase the Quebec reference time established by Paul Morrison in the Netherlands, in July 2007 (13 min 22.39 sec) .
A specialist in the 1,500 m, Philibert-Thiboutot now holds provincial records in the 1,000 m, 1,500 m, one thousand, 3,000 m, 5,000 m and 5 km.
It also goes from 12and fourth all-time in Canada in the 5000m. Only Olympic bronze medalist Mohammed Ahmed (12 min 47.20), Tokyo Olympics finalist Justyn Knight (12 min 51.93) and his friend Lucas Bruchet (13 min 12.56) did better.
Finally, his time allows him to reach the standard for the World Championships in Eugene, in July, he who holds the one in the 1500 m since last summer.
“I’m happy, but not completely satisfied,” commented the main interested party, caught on the phone at LAX airport before a flight to Vancouver on Monday afternoon.
Freshly landed from a course at altitude in Arizona, he was aiming better. “I was in the race with the Olympic champion in the 1500 until the last lap, then he took me 10 seconds. He accelerated, I slowed down. I thought I could finish stronger, but I kind of jumped. »
Following the fast pace imposed by the two hares, Philibert-Thiboutot clung to the leading quartet almost until the penultimate passage before the line. Ingebrigsten lapped the final lap in 54 seconds, waving to the crowd before crossing the wire. The Quebecer covered the final 400m in 64 seconds, giving up two places in the interval.
“It’s part of the game. With such an intense start, it can happen that we slow down a bit at the end. I still have a barometer. I was with the Olympic champion until one lap from the end and the gap widened thereafter. This is what I will have to work on. »
“Everyone wants their skin”
Also arriving from Arizona, Ingebrigsten, fifth in the 5,000m at the last Worlds in 2019, showed up on this high school track with the aim of recording the standard for Eugene, established at 13 min 13.
“My brother told me that if I wanted to, I could have stayed in the back and jog in 13:13,” the 21-year-old Norwegian told reporters on site. At the same time, when I’m racing, I can’t let anyone else win! »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHAEL RODMAKER
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot
Philibert-Thiboutot wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to measure himself against what he considers to be “one of the best athletes of all time in the 1500 and 5000m”.
” It’s motivating. He is in a position where everyone wants to have their skin a little. He cannot present himself somewhere and give in half measures.
“You shouldn’t be intimidated by guys like that. It would be like setting limits. So you have to have an offensive mentality. I really attacked as if I wanted to win. It doesn’t matter that he’s an Olympic champion. We are not at the Olympics, we are a little later and it is another race. The goal was to hang on and be competitive. But he was really on a higher level on the last lap. »
“Honored” to be on the list of the four best Canadians, especially since Ahmed and Knight are the fastest in history in North America, Philibert-Thiboutot thinks he can approach the 13-minute mark if it continues to progress in the coming months.
With such a time, he would qualify for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (July 28-August 8) where he wants to double 1500 and 5000 m. The question is whether he will have the opportunity to use a 5000 m soon. He is still hoping for an invitation for a meeting in Europe.
For the Worlds in Oregon (July 15-24), he will definitely target the 1500m, an event where he reached the semi-final at the 2016 Olympics. The 5000m would be a bonus in the event of failure over the shortest distance.
One thing is certain, he will participate in the classic Prefontaine, a Diamond League competition presented on May 28 in Hayward Field, the Worlds stadium. In an ideal world, he would find Ingebrigsten in the prestigious Bowerman Mile, for which he is on the waiting list. Otherwise, it will be the “international” 1500 m, which would not prevent us from thinking of another record.