WATCH: Adriaan Wildschutt shatters SA 10 000m record

Adriaan Wildschutt broke the South African 10 000m record in spectacular fashion at the annual Ten contest in California on Saturday, 16 March.

Wildschutt finished sixth in the race, crossing the line in a time of 26:55.54.

In doing so, Wildschutt became the first South African to break the magical 27-minute barrier.

He took a staggering 27.56 seconds off his own national mark of 27:23.10 which he set in California in May last year, as reported by the SAPeople website.

For the record, the world 10 000m record stands at 26:11.00 as is held by Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei.

Post-race, Wildschutt called the race ‘surreal’.

In setting his new SA mark, Wildschutt secured automatic qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics by achieving the required standard of 27:00.00.

Having set a national 5 000m record of 12:56.76 in Boston in January, Wildschutt has now booked his place in both the 5 000m and 10 000m events in Paris in August.

In Paris, there will be no heats for the men’s 10 000m. The final-only event will be held on 2 August.

Meanwhile, the men’s heats for the 5 000m are scheduled for 7 August with the final on 10 August.

Cheptegei also owns the world 5 000m record of 12:35.36.

“He keeps going and his hunger seems to have no end. His drive we hope rub off other athletes seeking inspiration as they seek World placings.

“Congratulations to Adriaan, his coach and all support stuff for a job well done,” said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.

Adriaan Wildschutt, who was born in Ceres in the Western Cape, runs for the Hoka NAZ Elite team in the United States.