The Hill City-University runner made a statement in his first appearance on the track this summer at the Victorian 5000m championships in Melbourne.
He ran a 14min 15.51sec 5000m to smash Blair Martin’s 22-year-old Otago men’s 20 years record by 11 seconds.
It was an impressive run for the 20-year-old, who ran 16 seconds faster than he did to win the senior men’s national title eight months ago.
He ran a rapid first 2km in 5min 52sec, and finished in fifth.Harry Summers claimed a convincing three-second win in 14min 08.60sec.
Former Otago runner Caden Shields — now based in Victoria — finished 12th in 14min 31.42sec.
Chignell now owns two Otago 5000m records. The senior men’s record — Martin’s 13min 40.66sec in 1998 — is the next one in his sights,
