Asian Games gold medallist Jinson Johnson smashed his own 1500m national record while clinching a silver in the ISTAF Berlin event on Sunday.
Johnson clocked 3:35.24 to finish second behind Joshua Thompson of United States.
His previous record of 3:37.62 had been clocked at Nijmegen in the Netherlands in June. The 28-year-old Kerala athlete also holds the 800m national record (1:45.65).
With this effort, Johnson also qualified for the World Championships to be held in Doha from September 28 to October 6. The World Championships qualifying time was 3:36.00.
"I was expecting to set new national record but did not expect to win the silver. I will now go to Colorado in USA for further training and then to Doha for World Championships," Jinson said after the event. "I am very happy. But my ultimate aim is to do well in Tokyo 2020," he added.
Jinson had won the 2018 Asian Games gold in 1500m with a time of 3:44.72.
ISTAF Berlin is a part of the IAAF World Challenge meetings, the second tier of global one day athletics events. It is the penultimate leg of the IAAF World Challenge meetings this year.
