Frankie Fredericks of Namibia took advantage of the conditions and laid claim on the title of fastest human.
Fredericks became the first man to run 200 meters indoors under 20 seconds as he finished in 19.92 seconds Sunday at the Lievin International meet Sunday. The previous record of 20.25 seconds was set by Britain's Linford Christie at this meet last year."First one under 20. It's a great track and it was a great opportunity," said Fredericks, who ran collegiately at Brigham Young.
Fredericks was runner-up in both the 100 and 200 meters at the 1992 Olympics and was second in the 200 to Michael Johnson of the United States at the 1995 World Championships. Fredericks won the 200 at the 1993 World Championships.
The world outdoor record is 19.72, set by Pietro Mennea of Italy at Mexico City in 1979.
Fredericks and Christie had something else in common. Both ran in lane six.
"I ran in lane six because I didn't want to run someone else's race," Fredericks said. "I was confident after the record in the 100 last week."
He ran 10.05 in Tampere, Finland, last Monday.
Venuste Niyongabo of Burundi and Maria Mutola of Mozambique just missed world indoor records.
Niyongabo won the 2,000 meters in 4:54.77, less than a second behind Eamon Coughlan's world mark of 4:54.07.
Mutola won the women's 800 in 1:57.52. The world record is 1:56.40, set in 1988 by Christine Wachtel of East Germany.