TORUN, Poland (AFP) — Ewa Swoboda ran the world’s fastest women’s 60 metres of the year on Saturday at her national indoor championships as her time of 6.99sec shaved 0.01sec off the Polish record she set a month ago.

“Finally I learned to run and that makes me happy,” said the 24-year-old 2019 European champion.

However, with the World Indoor Championships taking place in Belgrade from March 18 to March 20, she added, “there are things we could still improve”.

Swoboda becomes just the 10th woman to run 60m in under 7 seconds. 

The world record, at 6.92sec, has belonged to the Russian athlete Irina Privalova since 1993. All the five fastest times were set before 1998.

Swoboba again eclipsed her fastest rivals this season. 

American Marybeth Sant-Price and another member of the 7-second club Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah have both run 7.04sec this season. 

But Thompson-Herah, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, set her time finishing second to Swoboba in Torun in February.