Roland Gröger adds to his 400 legend with M50 indoor WR 51.92

As of Jan. 24, 2017, the Eurovets M50 record for outdoor 400 is better than the WMA record.

Germany’s Roland Gröger broke 52 (his age) over the weekend in an indoor 400, shattering his own listed M50 world record of 52.39 two years ago. Daniele Biffi, Roland’s coach, sent video of the 51.92 Berlin effort on a banked track. He beat a taller kid in his mid-20s. (See results here.) I asked Daniel if Germany would ratify a mark from a two-man race, and he replied: “Yes, it is ratify also if you run alone.” But when Roland ran a would-be M50 outdoor 400 record 51.02 last year, it never showed on the WMA website. The listed record remains 51.39 by Fred Sowerby in 1999. Talk about alternative facts. WMA has one set, and the Eurovets have another. Who has the guts to fix this?

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January 24, 2017

6 Responses

  1. ventsi - January 24, 2017

    Perfectly conditioned. Congratulations for the incredible result! Good luck in Daegu!

  2. Mike Sullivan - January 25, 2017

    Great Performance,

    Sully

  3. daniele biffi - January 25, 2017

    thank you everybody!

  4. Peter L. Taylor - March 5, 2017

    Well, as of March 5, 2017, this could get very interesting. M50 star Khalid Mulazim ran 52.02 this afternoon* for an American indoor record. If WMA does not accept Groger’s 51.92 described above because there was only one other person in the race (or for some other reason), I would say that Khalid Mulazim has the world record.

    * This, of course, was in the exhibition 400 in the US open nationals in Albuquerque.

  5. Khalid - March 6, 2017

    Thanks Mike & Pete for the kind words.

  6. Ken Stone - April 30, 2017

    Roland at age 52 ran 300 on April 29 in 36.71.

    Video is here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6phJS-jQq-8

    My own PR — at age 19 — is 35.1.

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