A 5,000m personal best of 13:36.47 followed in Belgium before Griggs put himself in genuine World Championships contention by clocking a superb 3:36.09 1500m in Nice on 17 June in a race won by Coscoran in 3:32.68.
A month later, the Tyrone lad was almost disappointed with a 3:38.44 run in Lucerne as he finished eighth in a tactical but high-class 1500m after having improved his mile personal best to 3:55.73 when finishing third at the Morton Games in Dublin six days earlier.
Athletes behind Griggs in Switzerland included ninth-place Moroccan Abdellatif Sadiki and Ethiopia’s Melkeneh Azize, who both will compete in Saturday evening’s 1500m heats in Budapest.
All the competitors who finished ahead of Griggs in Lucerne, including race winner and this year’s world number 20 Adel Mechaal of Spain, will also be involved in the opening heats.
Despite Faith Kipyegon’s stunning record-breaking achievements in women’s middle-distance running this year, Hicham El Guerrouj’s men’s 1500m record of 3:26.00 – set 25 years ago – has not been breached.
Notwithstanding that, a remarkable 11 athletes have gone under the 3:30 mark this summer, as shoe technology seemingly continues to cut a swathe through the record books.
The rankings are led by Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigsten’s new European mark of 3:27.14 set in Poland on 16 July when Coscoran improved his Irish record to 3:30.42 but still only finished fourth.
