LONDON, JULY 9: With three of the sport's most prestigious world records broken in 21 days, and the possibility of more to come, track and field is buzzing in the buildup to next month's World Championships.Records have fallen in succession in the men's 100 metres, decathlon and mile, setting new standards in the defining sprint, multi-event and middle-distance disciplines.Morocco's Hicham el Guerrouj smashed the mile record on Wednesday at the Golden Gala meet in Rome, clocking three minutes, 43.13 seconds to shave 1.26 seconds off the six-year-old mark of Noureddine Morceli.Noah Ngeny, a 20-year-old Kenyan, also ran under the previous record of 3:44.39, finishing second in 3:43.40.Last Sunday in Prague, Tomas Dvorak of the Czech Republic broke Dan O'Brien's seven-year-old record in the decathlon. Dvorak amassed 8,994 points to beat O'Brien's mark by 103 points and fall just short of the magical barrier of 9,000 points.The record spree began on June 16 in Athens when American Maurice Greeneran 9.79 seconds in the 100m, eclipsing Donovan Bailey's 1996 record of 9.84s.Greene ran 9.85s in Rome, equaling the third fastest 100m in history. It was the fastest time ever run without being a world record.Records in those and other events could be threatened during the course of the summer, which includes the World Championships in Seville, Spain, from August 20-29.International Amateur Athletic Federation president Primo Nebioli said athletics would going through a magical moment. El Guerrouj joined a select club of athletes who have held the mile and 1,500-metre records at the same time, including former British stars Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram.El Guerrouj will next run in Nice on July 17, where he will attack the 2,000-metre record, held by Morceli. Then, he plans to try to better his own 1,500 mark at the Golden League meet in Paris on July 21.In addition, El Guerrouj has his eyes set on Haile Gebrselassie's world record for the 5,000 of 12:19.36.Nicknamed the `Prince of theDesert', El Guerrouj has assumed the mantle of his great Moroccan predecessor, Said Aouita. El Guerrouj has won world 1,500-metre titles indoors and out, holds world records at 1,500 indoors and out, and also holds the indoor mile record.The only major title missing from his collection is an Olympic gold medal. He tripped and fell in the 1996 Olympic final when he was favored for the gold.Double-Olympic champion Michael Johnson, meanwhile, looks back in top form. He won the 200 metres in Rome in 19.93 seconds, his first sub-20 time since setting the world record of 19.32 at the 1996 Atlanta Games.Johnson said he will attack the 400 record of 43.29, held for almost 11 years by Butch Reynolds, in Seville.
