Jimmy Gressier broke the French 3000m record on Wednesday evening, running 7:28.67 at the Meeting de Montreuil, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze event on the outskirts of Paris.
The 28-year-old took nearly a full second off Yann Schrub’s previous national record of 7:29.38, set indoors in Metz this February. The performance also moves Gressier into the European all-time top 10 on the distance, a list still topped by Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s 7:17.55 world record from 2024.
A time trial in all but name
The race was set up as a fast effort with two pacemakers, and the field around Gressier never threatened him. He won by more than 15 seconds, with South Africa’s Maxime Chaumeton second in 7:44.08.
His new mark slots in between George Mills’ 7:27.92 indoor time from 2025 and Spain’s Isaac Viciosa, who ran 7:29.34 back in 1998. Schrub’s 7:29.38, the previous French record, now drops to 10th on that European list. For a fuller look at where this fits in the sport’s history books, see Marathon Handbook’s complete list of running world records.
Part of a fast spring
The Montreuil run continues what has already been a remarkable year for Gressier. In April, at the Urban Trail de Lille, he ran 12:51 over 5km on the road and finished two seconds shy of Berihu Aregawi’s world record of 12:49. That performance took six seconds off his own European 5km record and put him third on the world all-time list, behind Aregawi and Yomif Kejelcha.
He is also the reigning world 10,000m champion, and has announced a plan to take on Mo Farah’s one-hour world record at the Brussels Diamond League final in September. That kind of range, from a 5km road race to a full hour on the track, is rare among current European distance runners. He was one of the 2025 Track Athlete of the Year nominees on the back of his Tokyo World Championship run.
Gressier is expected to race the 5000m at the Paris Diamond League on June 28, his last major outing before the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, which run from August 10 to 16.
The 5000m field in Paris should be one of the deepest of the season, and any meeting with two-time world champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen would be must-watch. The Stade Charléty crowd will be hoping for a fast time on home soil.
European all-time 3000m list (men)
- 7:17.55 — Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR), 2024
- 7:24.68i — Mohamed Katir (ESP), 2023
- 7:25.77 — Mohamed Abdilaahi (GER), 2026
- 7:26.48 — Andreas Almgren (SWE), 2026
- 7:26.62 — Mohammed Mourhit (BEL), 2000
- 7:27.68 — Dominic Lobalu (SUI), 2024
- 7:27.92i — George Mills (GBR), 2025
- 7:28.67 — Jimmy Gressier (FRA), 2026
- 7:29.34 — Isaac Viciosa (ESP), 1998
- 7:29.38i — Yann Schrub (FRA), 2026
For Gressier, the night was another data point in a build-up that has been getting better with each race. He has the world title, a European 5km record that almost broke a world record, and now a French 3000m mark to add to a season that still has its biggest races to come.
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