The 28-year-old clocked 4:56.23 at the Boris Hanjekovic Memorial in Croatia to move up to fifth on Great Britain’s all-time 2000m list.
James West recorded the fastest 2000m by a Briton since 1987 with a time of 4:56.23 at the Boris Hanjekovic Memorial in Zagreb (8 September).
The Briton is fifth on the all-time UK list in the process, with only Steve Cram, Peter Elliott, Jack Buckner and Gary Staines going faster.
West’s 4:56.23 is the fastest time since Elliott, Buckner and Staines ran 4:52.82, 4:53.06 and 4:53.69 in 1987, respectively.
Lausanne in September and the 2000m triple is known as a distance that is tested either very early or late in the season.
It is not an Olympic or world event, but an official world record.
World record holders range from Paavo Nurmi and John Walker to Noureddine Morseli and Hicham El Gerouj.
James West (Getty)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen holds the current record after beating El Guerrouj’s long-standing mark of 4:44.79 with an incredible 4:43.13 in Brussels last season.
Britain has only ever had one world record holder in the 2000m, and that was Cram, who ran 4:51.39 in 1985.
Given the strength of British middle distance running through the generations, the fact that West is now in the top five of the UK all-time distance list is very impressive.
West, who is based in Manchester with New Balance, retained both of his national titles this season, the indoor 3000m and the outdoor 5000m, and set a number of personal bests.
The Briton also finished seventh at the European Championships over 5000m and is ninth on the UK all-time list in May with 13:09.07.
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