Matan Ivri Sets New Israeli 1500m Record Amid Six National Age-Group Records

On July 26, during the eighth round of the Israeli Athletics Association competition at Hadar Yosef Stadium, six Israeli age-group records were broken. The event served as the final opportunity for several athletes to qualify for the World Championships. Matan Ivri of Hapoel Emek Hefer set a new Israeli record in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:36.38. Although this is the fastest time ever recorded in Israel, Ivri has not yet met the qualification standard for the World Championships. Currently ranked 32nd globally, he remains hopeful of entering the top 30, as one higher-ranked athlete is injured and another may compete in a different event. Official qualification lists will close on Thursday.

Ivri's race attracted hundreds of spectators, matching the crowd size of the first day of the recent Israeli Championships in Givat Ram, boosted by social media promotion. Alongside Ivri, Arbel Henzel from Leader Jerusalem set a new youth record with 3:47.56, narrowly missing the U20 World Championships qualifying time by 0.06 seconds.

Additional records included Sagie Lamdiel’s new Israeli men’s 60m hurdles record at 7.75 seconds, Liam Aqua’s youth 60m hurdles record at 7.92 seconds, Oron Karnivsky’s under-23 110m hurdles record at 13.78 seconds (just 0.01 seconds shy of the senior national record), and Noa Levi’s women’s 300m hurdles record at 40.93 seconds, improving the previous mark by one second.