Yomi Omogbeja
World champion Beatrice Chebet ended her year on a high by running 14:13 to smash the women’s world 5km record at the Cursa dels Nassos, a World Athletics Label road race, in Barcelona on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Kenyan improved on the previous women-only world record of 14:29 set by Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia in Herzogenaurach on 12 September 2021, while her performance was also faster than the women’s world record set in a mixed race of 14:19, achieved by Ethiopia’s Ejegayehu Taye at the 2021 Cursa dels Nassos.
Chebet, Lilian Kasait Rengeruk from Kenya, and Taye reached the 4km mark at 11:36. However, Rengeruk fell behind slightly at that moment, setting up a final duel between Chebet and Taye.
With just 500 metres remaining, Chebet shifted into a higher gear, swiftly pulling ahead of Taye, who was the soon-to-be former 5K world-record holder. Taye finished second behind Chebet on this occasion, clocking 14:21, while Rengeruk was third in 14:25.
The top three podium finishers – all 5km medallists at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 in October – dipped under the previous women-only world record mark, as well as Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek, who finished fourth in 14:27.
In a historic moment, 18-year-old Medina Eisa from Ethiopia, who finished in fifth place, set a new record for the fastest time in a women’s 5K by a U20 athlete, with an impressive 14:40.
Before clinching the world 5km title in Riga, Chebet had already bagged the world cross-country championship crown in Bathurst in February and secured a bronze medal in the 5000m race at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August.
The men’s race was won by 25-year-old Dominic Lobalu of South Sudan.
