20 hours ago
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet misses the 5000m race world record by just three seconds
Beatrice Chebet ended up running the second-fastest time ever at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, an event that is part of the Rome Diamond League. However, her time was not enough to beat the 5000m women's record, and she narrowly missed the opportunity by three seconds.
The 25-year-old athlete ran a national record of 14:03.69 for the 5000m category, two weeks after she ran the second-fastest in 3000m history in Rabat as well. Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay was the athlete who set the world record in 2023, finishing with a time of 14:00.21
Still, with her impressive performance, Chebet now moves ahead of her fellow Kenyan athlete, Faith Kipyegon, who was a former world record-holder. Highlights of the race
Kenyan Chebet raced against world record holder Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, together with Italy's Olympic medallist Nadia Battocletti. The race started fast, and a lead group broke away early on.
When the pacemakers stepped aside, Chebet took the lead and Tsegay tried to keep up, but about four laps from the end, and nearly 10 minutes into the race, the Ethiopian athlete lost touch. See also Pritam Singh Halts MPS to Celebrate Shanti's Historic Gold Win
With no one left to stay with her, Chebet's pace slowed and fell behind world record pace with two laps to go. Though the athlete finished strong, she missed the record and finished with a final time of 14:03.69. This is a new Kenyan national record as she ran faster than Faith Kipyegon's 2023 time of 14:05.20.
Tsegay finished fifth, while Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu placed second with a personal best of 14:19.33. Moreover, Italy's Battocletti placed third with a record of 14:23.15. Another Ethiopian athlete, Birke Haylom, also finished ahead of Tsegay.
With this, Chebet expressed: 'Today, I wanted to try and see how fast I can go when I push a lot… Soon, I am going for a time under 14 (minutes).
'I can say I also helped the others to achieve their personal bests and national records today. It helped a lot. I have to congratulate the others as well, because without them, it would not be possible to run that race.'
She added, 'I just said 'Let's run my own race today.' I was planning to run 14:15, but I felt like my body was moving, and I decided to go.
'I see that my body is in good shape, and I am capable of the world record, so now I am going home and will prepare for it. Everything is possible – if I get someone who will push me up to 3000m, it is possible.'
In a social media post made by World Athletics, it stated: 'What did we just witness 🤯
@ comes so close to the 5000m world record with an incredible 14:03.69 🔥'
Netizens were quick to cheer Beatrice on, with many saying she's on track to break more records this year. One wrote, 'Both the 3000m and 5000m world records are coming down this year! I love watching Beatice run 👏🏾,' while another added, 'This girl is on fire 🔥 … it's your time to shine ✨️.'
