On a warm evening that was perfect for running at Monaco's Stade Louis II, Britain's Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion (pictured top) ticked the box marked "Sharpening up for the Moscow World Championships" with an astonishing flourish.

With face set, Farah pushed hard all the way to the line which Kenya's Kiprop had passed in 3:27.72 to become the fourth fastest metric mile runner of all time behind Algerian Noureddine Morceli, compatriot Bernard Lagat and Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, the world record holder with 3:26.00.

Kiprop had been effectively launched into a last lap lead as his fellow Kenyan pacer James Magut dropped off shortly after the bell, and he had a 20m lead over the rest of the field, led by the smaller figure of the Briton, as he came around the final bend.

But Farah closed up in the finishing straight to cross the line only a few strides adrift of the tall and upright Kenyan, thus breaking the European record of 3:28.95 set by Spain's Fermín Cacho in 1997, and also the British record of 3:29.67 set just along the coast in Nice in 1985 by Steve Cram – commentating here for BBC television.

For Farah, who had been hoping to match or narrowly better the 1,500m best of 3:33.98 he set on this track in 2009, it was an astounding result – and one which will give his potential rivals in Moscow more to worry about.


Kiprop, meanwhile, was "happy and excited" about his performance.

"I'm very surprised about Mo Farah and his mark of 3:28.81 – that's crazy," he said.

"Now I want to give my best in Moscow."

Farah was a delighted figure afterwards.

"Can you believe that?" he said.

"I had a really great session the other day, so I knew I was capable of running 3.30.

"Having had a chat to my coach Alberto [Salazar], I knew that I was capable of running 3.30 on the right day and the right race but, honestly, I didn't think I would run that fast.

"I thought I was maybe capable of going under 3.30 but I didn't think I was going to run 2.28.

"I was winding Cram up because he was saying, 'just don't break my record' and I was saying, 'I feel good, I feel good'."

A near-capacity crowd here witnessed outstanding victories from home favourite Renaud Lavillenie, who pole vaulted 5.96m, Amantle Montsho of Botswana, who won the 400m in a national record of 49.33sec, and American Brigetta Barrett, who high-jumped 2.01 to defeat Russia's Olympic champion Anna Chicherova.

Brigetta Barrett celebrated her Diamond League high jump win in Monaco with a song and a dance

All told, there were seven world-leading performances here.

Kenyan Edwin Soi's 5,000m time of 12min 51.34sec and Czech Vítězslav Veselý's Javelin throw of 87.68m joined the efforts of Lavillenie and Montsho within the Diamond League framework.

The men's 1,500m was not a Diamond Race-counting event on this occasion, nor were the two sprint relays which began the track action, which produced world leading times of 37.58sec and 41.75sec respectively for US men's and women's quartets.

Barrett celebrated victory in a top quality high jump competition with characteristic vivacity as she danced and hopped and looked as if she would like nothing more than to give her noted singing voice another big airing.

As it was she had her wish, performing a well-rehearsed version of For Once In My Life before the final fireworks, complete with a group dancing routine.

It was certainly a step on from Barry McGuigan's dad singing Danny Boy after his boy had won another boxing bout.

The American went clearance for clearance with Russia's Olympic champion Chicherova, albeit that she had begun at 1.80m when Chicherova had passed, until the bar got to 2.01.

Barrett cleared it first time – cue crazy dancing – but the Russian could not match her.

Both competitors had been tracked throughout by former double world champion Blanka Vlašić, who had insisted the previous day that the Achilles tendon operations she had earlier this year meant she would not be back to full fitness until this point next season.

But, to the delight of the packed crowd, the willowy Croatian defied that suggestion with a sequence of first time clearances to 1.98, a height she jumped at her second attempt.

However, 2.01 was to prove too much for her and she had to settle for third place.

The high jump was one of three outstanding women's field events.

The opening Diamond League event of the evening, the women's long jump, turned into a competition of the highest quality as Russia's European indoor champion Darya Klishina produced a second round leap of 7.98m, only seven centimetres off her personal best, only to see Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare outdo her with successive seven-metres jumps.


Okagbare, who had warmed up with 6.86 which gave her a first round lead, produced a personal best of 7.04m in round two and followed up with a third round of 7.00m.

Australia's world and Olympic 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson, in her own words, playing catch-up with the other girls after recovering from early season injuries, had hoped to get a good start here and finish strongly.

She will have been only half satisfied.

Pearson got away well, and was first to the barriers, but by the halfway point she was coming under pressure from both sides, and she faded back into fifth place as three Americans moved into the podium places, with Queenie Harrison winning in 12.64.

Yvette Lewis was second in 12.69, with Kellie Wells, the Olympic bronze medallist, third in 12.70.

Pearson clocked 12.75.

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