The new Sergei Bubka?

The ability to break world records reminds us of the former Ukrainian pole vaulter who made history in the 80s and 90s

In the world of running, ultra-distance events, that is, distances above the 42,195 meters of the marathon, have never attracted much attention. One of the reasons is that in recent years there has never been a major dominant star capable of capturing this world’s attention. One of the most famous, Dean Karnazes, made success with his books and inspired a lot of people, but he’s just a great athlete, unable to be dominant enough to be called a star. Killian Jornet is an ultra-distance star, but he is part of a world of his own, the ultratrails, the mountain races with beautiful scenery and extremely challenging.

However, a big star was missing in ultra-distance racing on flat or street courses. Since the legendary Yiannis Kouros, the Greek who broke all possible and imaginable ultra-distance records between the 80s and 2000s, there hasn’t been anyone capable of attracting so much attention.

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Until from the distant Lithuania, a country best known for its basketball players, a boy named Aleksandr Sorokin appears, a former chubby man who started running just to lose weight and who discovered an incredible ability to run at very high speeds for a long, long time. same time.

Legend has it that he started running in 2013, weighing around 100kg. And already in 2013 we have the record of the first race of 100km in which he participates, arriving in 9th place, with 08h37. The following year he wins his first 100km race (7h20!) and participates in the first world ultramarathon in the distance of 100km. And from then on it’s history. Victories in Spartathlon, European and World Championships, trying different distances and modalities. In addition to the 100km, he is incredibly dominant in the 6h, 12h, 24h and 100 mile races, of which he not only holds world records (some by the legendary Yiannis Kouros himself), but also seems to be able to break them whenever he wants.

Since 2021 he has broken world records in these modalities like someone who stretches before having breakfast. Some of the records, such as the 100km one, broken on May 14, 2023 (6h05m35s, a pace of 3m39s/km!), were already his and he simply seems to be at the level where he improves his record little by little, when want, as the need arises.

And in that he’s starting to look unbelievable Serguei Bubka, the Ukrainian pole vaulter who set 35 world records in the 1980s and 1990s. heights or greater sporting projection.

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The impression we have is that Sorokin is reaching this level. When he enters a competition, the doubt is not whether he will win, but whether he will once again break a world record. He needs to maintain a few more years at this extremely dominant level of performance to be able to be compared to such monsters as Yiannis Kouros and Serguei Bubka himself, but he has certainly made history and is managing to draw a lot of attention to ultra-distance events!