Milnathort athlete Laura Muir entered new territory with a Scottish record and personal best over 1,500m at the Paris Diamond League meeting in the Stade de France.
Jenny Simpson forced the pace from the start in a determined bid to beat the US record, passing through 800m in two minutes 07 seconds.
The bell sounded in 2:55 as the American drove around the penultimate bend chased by recent European Cup winner Sifan Hassan.
An all-out battle stretched all the way into the final 100m where the Netherlands athlete edged ahead to win in a world lead and national record of three minutes 57 seconds. Simpson’s personal best of 3:57.22 was only a tenth outside the US record. Hellen Obiri (Kenya) came home third (3:58.89).
Finishing sixth, Dundee Hawkhill Harrier Muir clocked a personal best 4:00.07, over two seconds inside her previous best mark to top the UK rankings.
The veterinary student’s time bettered the 4:01.20 set by Yvonne Murray in 1987.
The final lap battle and drive for the line between Muir and UK champion Laura Weightman saw the Morpeth athlete finish eighth, also recording a personal best of 4:00.17. World champion Abeba Aregawi (Sweden) could only place 10th.
Muir said: “Today was the perfect opportunity to run a fast race, so I thought if I got a personal best I’ll be happy, but that’s a PB by almost three seconds! It was so close to four minutes, but I wasn’t aiming for sub four at the moment, so I’m delighted.
“Records are meant to be broken but medals stay with you forever, so all my focus is on the championships, but to get a time like that, I’m so happy.
“I’m running an 800m next week at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix, so I’ll be looking to test my speed at that one.”
Emma Coburn (USA) set a fast pace in the 3,000m steeplechase. Leading at the bell, the American had only Hiwot Ayalew (Ethiopia) for company.
The Ethiopian launched her effort over the final 250m to clock a meeting record of nine minutes 11.65 with Coburn rewarded by a personal best 9:14.12.
Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill) found herself tailed off early in the race but stuck to her task to finish 13th in 9:54.56, only four seconds shy of her season’s best.
Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) clawed her way to victory in the 200m, edging ahead over the final 20m to dip for the finish in 22.32 seconds, a mere two hundredths ahead of Olympic champion and three-time world champion Allyson Felix (USA). Double world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) faded in the final run-in finishing fifth (22.63).
Another highlight of the meeting came in the men’s 110m hurdles where the home crowd roared on Pascal Martinot-LaGarde to a personal best 13.05 seconds. The French hero was, however, bettered over the final hurdle by Hansle Parchment (Jamaica) who powered his way into the world all-time top 10 with 12.94, a world lead and Jamaican record.
The women matched the quality of the men’s race over the hurdles, Dawn Harper-Nelson out-dipping US colleague Queen Harrison with a world lead 12.44 to Harrison’s 12.46. Lolo Jones completed the US domination of podium placings, while Tiffany Porter (GB) placed fifth with 12.72.
Michael Rodgers (USA) came through to win the 100m in 10.00 seconds ahead of Richard Thompson (Trinidad & Tobago) with Kim Collins (St Kitts & Nevis) third. GB prospect Chijindu Ujah came home sixth (10.20).