Two-time Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet broke the world record for the women’s 5,000-metre event in Barcelona to cap off an incredible year.
As the first female competitor to surpass the 14-minute mark, the 24-year-old Kenyan athlete finished the race with a performance record of 13 minutes and 54 seconds. She broke her previous record, set in the same race a year ago, by 19 seconds.
Chebet said: “I’m super happy as everything went according to plan… I felt capable of running under 14 minutes and I managed to do so. Two races in Barcelona and two world records, can I ask for more?”
She added: “My focus for next year is to win gold medals over 5,000m and 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo.”
Moreover, Rosa E Associati, a sports management and consulting company, posted on its Instagram account: “13:54 and new World 5km Record 🎉 What a way to finish the year for Beatrice Chebet at @cursanassos”
In 2024, Chebet won gold in the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre events at the Paris Olympics. Furthermore, she won her second Diamond League title in the 5,000m category in September after breaking the 10,000m world record in Eugene last May.
On Sunday, October 1, the World Road Running Championships kicked off its first ever 5-kilometer road race with a large contingent of experienced long-distance runners hoping to win the event’s inaugural title.
The road race was characterized by prolonged and intense competition between Ethiopians and Kenyans who battled to stay ahead of the competition. But ultimately, it was the 23-year old Beatrice Chebet who won the race.
Chebet for the win
Chebet, who triumphed in both team and senior race categories at this year’s World Cross Country Championships in Australia, demonstrated her remarkable endurance and speed once more.
Chebet, in the earlier stages of the race, positioned herself ahead of the rest, although she was not the leader. She remained consistent in her pace, striding along with fellow Kenyan Lilian Kasait Rengeruk. The Kenyan duo remained in the 9-woman leading group that passed the first kilometer in under three minutes. Uganda’s Joy Cheptoek and Rengeruk had passed the first kilometer mark in 2:55, while Chebet did so in 2:56.
However, as the race progressed and with their stamina weakening at each step, they slowed down and ran the second kilometer in 3 minutes and the third kilometer at the same time.
By the fourth kilometer, the competition had thinned out, and a battle between two Kenyan runners, Chebet and Rengeruk, and two Ethiopian runners, Ejigayehu Taye and Medina Eisa, emerged. The four ran close to each other and surpassed the rest. By the time they passed the 4km mark with a time of 11:48, Eisa began to drift away from the group and eventually fell behind the three runners. This time, Taye was in the lead, followed by Chebet, and Rengeruk in close pursuit.
In the last few hundred meters of the race, the camera zoomed out to reveal that Chebet, Rengeruk, Taye, and Eisa were now running at a seemingly synchronized pace. Chebet, however, quickly increased her speed and ultimately led the race to the finish line, where she broke the tape and became the first ever winner of the 5 km road race in the capital of Latvia, Riga.
Chebet finished with a time of 14:35, while her compatriot, Rengeruk, came in second with a time of 14:39. Taye and Eisa from Ethiopia came in third and fourth, respectively, with times of 14:40 and 14:41.
Results of Women’s 5 km event, as recorded by World Athletics:
Ethiopian athlete Yomif Kejelcha set a new world record at the Valencia Half-Marathon.
Kejelcha, who also owns the world record for the indoor mile established in Boston last year, finished his race in a record 57 minutes and 30 seconds. The time clocked by the 27-year-old Ethiopian athlete was a second quicker than the record set by Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda in Lisbon three years ago.
In a social media post, Kejelcha said: “Thank you so much to Valencia for putting on a great race and helping me to break the world record and I’m so happy because the Valencia people helped me so much today for this record.”
He added: “I also want to thank my Coach and organizers for putting on a brilliant race today… Thank you also to my family for giving me great support over the years.🙏🙏… Adidas running my management all thank you 🙏 I really appreciate it.”
Kejelcha, who was just running his sixth half-marathon, trailed the pacemakers in the beginning. He made his move at the three-kilometre mark and eventually got ahead of Kenyans Daniel Mateiko and Isaia Kipkoech to secure his win.
Despite being a two-time global indoor 3000m champion, Kejelcha only managed to place sixth in the 10,000-metre final at the Paris Olympics earlier this year.
In similar news, Agnes Ngetich of Kenya dominated the women’s race and moved to be the second in the world all-time rankings with a time of 63:04.
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon is considered one of the greatest 1,500 metres athletes the world has ever seen. The Kenyan won the 1,500 metres gold in both Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. If she triumphs again in Paris, she will be the first athlete to win the Olympic event three times in a row.
Kipyegon had an incredible season in 2023. She broke world records in three events in under 50 days.
The 30-year-old broke the women’s 1,500 metres world record at the Diamond League meeting in Florence, Italy, at 3:49.11. Less than a week later, she shattered the 5,000 metres world record at the Diamond League event in Paris, France, with a time of 14:05.20. (That record was subsequently broken by the Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay with a time of 14:00.21.)
Next, Kipyegon shattered the one-mile world record with a time of 4:07.64 at the Diamond League meet in Monaco.
Later in the season, at the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Kipyegon won the 1,500 metres and the 5,000 metres—the first woman to do so at the global spectacle. In recognition of her remarkable feats, World Athletics crowned her the World Athlete of the Year for 2023.
Kipyegon has found her way to the top with her talent, work ethic, and positive and humble attitude. The nurturing environment she trained in has also helped.
Born in 1994 on a Kenyan farm in the Rift Valley, she walked and jogged many miles to and from school.
Her physical education teacher identified her potential. By the time she was 16, she had already placed 4th in the World Cross Country Championships.
She had the benefit of training in Kenya’s high-altitude athletics camps. Running at high altitudes means there is less oxygen, and athletes tire more easily. The camps have become renowned for pushing athletes like Kipyegon to the limits of their endurance. The coaches also play a vital role in their success. Retired elite athlete Patrick Sang, for example, has trained multiple Olympic champions, including Kipyegon and Eliud Kipchoge.
Many of the athletes come from poor rural families and run to escape poverty. Kipyegon has gone from running barefoot in her first races to the height of success.
On Sunday, September 10, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich broke the women-only 10-kilometer world record with a time of 29:24 at the World Athletics Elite Label road race in Brasov, Romania.
For Ngetich, this victory is a huge improvement from her disappointing 6th place finish at last month’s World Championships in Budapest, where she didn’t make it to the podium. Still, Ngetich didn’t opt to back down from the race this time and went out and put on an incredible solo run at the Transylvanian 10 km race instead.
Leaving everyone in her wake, the 22-year-old long distance runner completed the first five kilometers in a time of 14:25, which was four seconds quicker than the previous global record for that distance. She then went on to pass the 6.5 kilometer mark in 18:54 and the 8.5 kilometer mark in 24:56 before finishing the race in 29:24. This left everybody in shock, including Ngetich herself, as she did not expect to surpass the 30:01 world record that was set by the late Agnes Tirop in Herzogenaurach in 2021.
Ngetich on her win
“It is quite a surprise to me…I didn’t expect to break the world record. All I ever wanted was a personal best (PB) of 30:00 or 30:02 but to set a new world record in the women’s 10km was the last thing I expected,” said Ngetich.
Ngetich was also asked about her quick start, and she answered that she wasn’t concerned about burning out in the second half of the race.
“No, I was not worried…When the gun went off, I just decided to run and go for it. I started the season on a perfect note with the World Cross Country Championships (in Bathurst, Australia) and so I wanted to close it in the same way. I thank God that it unfolded this way,” she said amidst smiles.
In addition to Ngetich, another Kenyan long-distance runner also stepped onto the podium that day. Catherine Reline took second place in the race with a time of 30:14. And, the third place was awarded to Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyaek, who crossed the finish line in 30:34.
Track Spice, a famous user on X who’s known to give the latest updates in Track and Field, posted Agnes Ngetich’s latest achievement on the same day. The caption reads:
“Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich shatters the women-only 10km world record* in Brasov as she clocks 29:24 🙌”
WORLD RECORD
🇰🇪's Agnes Ngetich shatters the women-only 10km world record* in Brasov as she clocks 29:24 🙌
The only other woman to have run faster than Ngetich was Ethiopia’s Jelemzerfyehualaw, who ran 29:14 in last year’s mixed race at Castellon and 29:19 in this year’s Valencia race.
Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir won the London Marathon in a time that set a world record just for women– two hours, sixteen minutes, and sixteen seconds.
Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu, Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, and world record holder Tigst Assefa all broke the previous women’s only record of 2:17:01, set by Mary Keitany in 2017.
With three of the four fastest women in history racing, the women’s field was regarded as one of the greatest races ever put together. The athletes remained on course to set a record for the women’s only marathon run, meaning that no male competitors were present on the route.
Jepchirchir – grateful
During the duration of the race, Alemu, Assefa, Jepkosgei, and Jepchirchir were the only ones remaining as groups of athletes eventually decreased. They remained together until the final few hundred meters, when Jepchirchir ran for the finish line, enabling the 30-year-old Kenyan to defeat Assefa and win in London for the first time.
Jepchirchir admitted after her win: “I am feeling grateful. I am so happy for the victory. I was not expecting to run a world record – I knew it might be beat but I did not expect it to be me.”
“I knew the history and the ladies were strong. I was working extra hard. My time was lower but I’ve come good today and set a PB… I am so happy to qualify for the Olympics and I feel grateful. I’m happy to be at Paris and my prayer is to be there and run well to defend my title. I know it won’t be easy but I’ll try my best,” she added.
