Cram Breaks World Mark in Mile Run : 11 Days After His Record 1,500, Briton Posts a 3:46.31 at Oslo

OSLO —  Steve Cram of Britain lowered the world record for the mile by more than a full second with a time of 3 minutes 46.31 seconds in the final event of the Bislett Games track and field meet Saturday night.

It was Cram’s second world record in 11 days. On July 16, he set a 1,500-meter record of 3:29.67 at Nice, France.

Jose-Luis Gonzalez of Spain was the runner-up Saturday in 3:47.79 in the third world-record race within an hour on the fast Bislett Stadium track. Said Aouita of Morocco set a 5,000-meter record of 13:00.40, and Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway bettered the women’s 10,000-meter record with a time of 30:59.42.

Cram took the lead with less than one lap to go and increased it on the backstretch. Gonzalez overtook Sebastian Coe, Cram’s countryman, on the last turn. Coe was third in 3:49.22, and Steve Scott of the United States was fourth in 3:49.93.

Coe, who set the previous record of 3:47.33 in 1981 at Brussels, said Cram “was brilliant tonight.” But Cram was not prepared to claim the title of mile king and insisted the time could easily be lowered again soon.

“I said before the race that people are silly if they think whoever wins tonight is the best,” he said. “There will be other races, and if we run four or five times, I’m sure the same guy won’t win every time.”

Cram said he was was disappointed with a slow third lap. “The record would have been at least a second better if we’d have been faster in that lap,” he said. “This is not at all a final limit. It’s possible to run much faster than this.”

Confidence made a difference. Cram was on a high after his record at Nice, while Coe did not have the right feel.

“I wasn’t that confident behind him, and when he went (for the line) I realized it wasn’t going to be my night,” said Coe, who went on a similar record-breaking spree in 1981.

The 5,000 meters also lagged behind world-record pace going into the final lap. American Sydney Maree spurted past Aouita at the bell, leaving Olympic 10,000-meter champion Alberto Cova of Italy trailing after a long struggle to stay with the leaders.

Maree’s bold bid offered the chance of a record as he and Aouita were stride-for-stride down the backstretch. Coming around the final turn, Aouita took command and finished one-hundredth of a second under the record of 13:00.41 set by Britain’s David Moorcroft on the Bislett track in 1982.

Maree was second in 13:01.15, with Cova third at 13:10.06.

In the women’s 10,000, the 29-year-old Kristiansen, leading from the four-kilometer mark, improved the previous record by an impressive 14 seconds and become the first woman to post a time under 31 minutes. Runner-up Aurora Cunha of Portugal was 36 seconds behind Kristiansen’s time of 30:59.42.

Olga Bondarenko of the Soviet Union set the previous record of 31:13.78 set at Kiev last summer.

From the three-kilometer mark, Kristiansen posted split times below Bondarenko’s old record.

“I had really hoped to break the 31-minute barrier,” she said. “The speed was good and even, and I had good support from the crowd (19,231) all the way.”

She added: “I wasn’t really tired. If I had the same qualified opposition by women as the men have in their races, I would be able to cut the record (by) another 20 seconds.”

Kristiansen’s record marked the first time she had run the 10,000-meter distance over 25 laps on a 400-meter track.

Last year, she established her second women’s 5,000-meter world record at Bislett. With a time of 14:58.89 she was the first woman to post a 5,000-meter time under 15 minutes.

Earlier this year, she set an unofficial women’s marathon world record of 2:21:06 in the London Marathon.

In the women’s mile, Mary Decker Slaney failed to break a world record but won the race in 4:19.18, the fourth fastest mile time ever for a woman. Kirsty McDermott of Britain was a close second in 4:19.41.

A pending world record of 4:15.80 by Natalia Artyemova of the Soviet Union was run last year, while the officially listed world record of 4:17.44 was set by Romania’s Maricia Puica in September, 1982. The American record, held by Slaney, is 4:18.08.

THE FASTEST MILERS OF ALL TIME

Mark Name Country Year 3:46.31 Steve Cram Britain 1985 3:47.33 Sebastian Coe Britain 1981 3:47.69 Steve Scott United States 1982 3:47.79 Jose-Luis Gonzalez Spain 1985 3:48.40 Steve Ovett Britain 1981 3:48.83 Sydney Maree United States 1981 3:49.08 John Walker New Zealand 1982 3:49.34 David Moorcroft Britain 1982 3:49.45 Mike Boit Kenya 1981 3:49.54 Said Aouita Morocco 1984 3:49.77 Ray Flynn Ireland 1982 3:49.98 Thomas Wessinghage West Germany 1983 3:50.34 Todd Harbour United States 1981 3:50.38 Pierre Deleze Switzerland 1982 3:50.59 Jim Spivey United States 1983 3:50.64 Graham Williamson Britain 1982 3:50.73 Wilson Waigwa Kenya 1983 3:50.84 Tom Byers United States 1982 3:50.98 Jose Marajo France 1983 3:51.0 Filbert Bayi Tanzania 1975 3:51.1 Jim Ryun United States 1967 3:51.23 Johan Fourie South Africa 1984 3:51.34 John Gregorek United States 1982 3:51.39 Richie Harris United States 1984 3:51.57 Jack Buckner Britain 1984 3:51.59 Eamonn Coghlan Ireland 1983 3:51.62 Chuck Aragon United States 1984 3:51.71 Jose Abascal Spain 1983 3:51.94 Suleiman Nyambui Tanzania 1981 3:52.02 Craig Masback United States 1979 3:52.02 Pascal Thiebaut France 1984 3:52.17 Ben Jipcho Kenya 1973 3:52.2 Marty Liquori United States 1975 3:52.24 Dragon Zdravkovic Yugoslavia 1983 3:52.31 Vittorio Fontanella Italy 1981 3:52.34 Mike Hillardt Australia 1984 3:52.36 Uwe Becker West Germany 1982 3:52.42 Robert Nemeth Austria 1981 3:52.44 John Robson Britain 1981 3:52.50 Frank O’Mara Ireland 1983 3:52.59 Jozef Plachy Czechoslovakia 1978 3:52.64 Marcus O’Sullivan Ireland 1985

THE MEN’S MILE RECORD FROM GEORGE TO CRAM

Mark Name Country Year 4:12.3p Walter George Britain 1886 4:15.4 John Paul Jones United States 1911 4:14.4 John Paul Jones United States 1913 4:12.6 Norman Taber United States 1915 4:10.4 Paavo Nurmi Finland 1923 4:09.2 Jules Ladoumegue France 1931 4:07.6 Jack Lovelock New Zealand 1933 4:06.7 Glenn Cunningham United States 1934 4:06.4 Sydney Wooderson Britain 1937 4:06.1* Gunder Hagg Sweden 1942 4:06.2 Arne Andersson Sweden 1942 4:04.6 Gunder Hagg Sweden 1942 4:02.6 Arne Andersson Sweden 1943 4:01.6 Arne Andersson Sweden 1944 4:01.3 Gunder Hagg Sweden 1945 3:59.4 Roger Bannister Britain 1954 3:57.9 John Landy Australia 1954 3:57.2 Derek Ibbotson Britain 1957 3:54.5 Herb Elliott Australia 1958 3:54.4 Peter Snell New Zealand 1962 3:54.03 Peter Snell New Zealand 1964 3:53.6 Michel Jazy France 1965 3:51.3 Jim Ryun United States 1966 3:51.1 Jim Ryun United States 1967 3:51.0 Filbert Bayi Tanzania 1975 3:49.4 John Walker New Zealand 1975 3:48.95 Sebastian Coe Britain 1979 3:48.8 Steve Ovett Britain 1980 3:48.53 Sebastian Coe Britain 1981 3:48.40 Steve Ovett Britain 1981 3:47.33 Sebastian Coe Britain 1981 3:46.31 Steve Cram Britain 1985

The International Amateur Athletic Federation first began ratifying world records in 1913. p--professional. *--Hagg’s 4:06.1 was ratified as 4:06.2 because, at that time, records were accepted to the nearest fifth of a second. MEN’S 5,000-METER WORLD RECORD FROM ROBERTSON TO AOUITA

Mark Name Country Year 15:01.2 Arthur Robertson Britain 1908 14:36.6 Hannes Kolehmainen Finland 1912 14:35.3 Paavo Nurmi Finland 1922 14:28.2 Paavo Nurmi Finland 1924 14:16.9 Lauri Lehtinen Finland 1932 14:08.8 Taisto Maki Finland 1939 13:58.2 Gunder Hagg Sweden 1942 13:57.2 Emil Zatopek Czechoslovakia 1954 13:56.6 Vladimir Kuts USSR 1954 13:51.6 Chris Chataway Britain 1354 13:51.2 Vladimir Kuts USSR 1954 13:50.8 Sandor Iharos Hungary 1955 13:46.8 Vladimir Kuts USSR 1955 13:36.8 Gordon Pirie Britain 1956 13:35.0 Vladimir Kuts USSR 1957 13:34.8 Ron Clarke Australia 1965 13:33.6 Ron Clarke Australia 1965 13:25.8 Ron Clarke Australia 1965 13:24.2 Kipchoge Keino Kenya 1965 13:16.6 Ron Clarke Australia 1966 13:16.4 Lasse Viren Finland 1972 13:13.0 Emiel Puttemans Belgium 1972 13:12.86 Dick Quax New Zealand 1977 13:08.4 Henry Rono Kenya 1978 13:06.2 Henry Rono Kenya 1981 13:00.42 David Moorcroft Britain 1982 13:00.40 Said Aouita Morocco 1985

THE FASTEST 5,000-METER RUNNERS OF ALL TIME

Mark Name Country Year 13:00.40 Said Aouita Morocco 1985 13:00.42 David Moorcroft Britain 1982 13:01.15 Sydney Maree United States 1985 13:06.20 Henry Rono Kenya 1981 13:07.29 Wodajo Bulti Ethiopia 1982 13:07.54 Markus Ryffel Switzerland 1984 13:07.70 Antonio Leitao Portugal 1982 13:08.54 Fernando Mamede Portugal 1983 13:09.50 Peter Koech Kenya 1982 13:10.06 Alberto Cova Italy 1985 13:10.40 Hans-Jorg Kunze East Germany 1981 13:11.50 Tim Hutchings Britain 1984 13:11.93 Alberto Salazar United States 1982 13:11.99 Valeri Abramov USSR 1981 13:12.29 Suleiman Nyambui Tanzania 1979 13:12.54 Werner Schildhauer East Germany 1982 13:12.78 Thomas Wessinghage West Germany 1982 13:12.86 Dick Quax New Zealand 1977 13:12.91 Matt Centrowitz United States 1982 13:13.0 Emiel Puttemans Belgium 1972