Australian athlete Lauren Ryan breaks record that’s stood for 19 years – and you won’t believe how far she beat her old personal best in

Australian distance runners Lauren Ryan and Jack Rayner broke national 10,000m records at a competition in California, taking a giant step towards the Paris Olympics.

Ryan beat his personal best by 94 seconds, stopping the clock at 30 minutes 35.66 seconds.

Her time was more than two seconds faster than the previous record set by the great Benita Willis in 2003.

Ryan, the reigning national champion, finished third in the women’s 10,000m at Sound Running’s The Ten in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday evening local time.

The Australian’s incredible run puts her in a great position to represent her country at the Paris Olympics later this year.

The 26-year-old became the first Australian to surpass the difficult automatic qualifying standard of 30:40.00 for the Paris Olympics later this year.

She will now also focus on achieving the qualifying time for the 5000m.

“Being part of the Australian Olympic team is something I have dreamed of, and now that I know I won the event and have the standard, I hope it guarantees me selection for the “10K team,” Ryan said.

“Now it’s time to move on to the 5K.

“I experienced it at the World Juniors and I feel like for me now, at this level, it’s about competing and racing. It only takes a few years to understand this.

Ryan (pictured) also aims to tackle the 5000m event in Paris

Rayner finished 13th in the men’s 10,000m on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) in 27:09.57, almost six seconds better than his previous national record set at the same competition in 2022.

That was just before automatic qualification for the Paris Games at 27:00.00, but Rayner, 28, is still well placed to be selected for a second Australian Olympic team later this year.

A stress fracture forced him to withdraw early in the marathon at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.