Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet breaks 10,000-meter world record

Kenya (Commonwealth) _ Beatrice Chebet of Kenya set the women’s 10,000m new world record on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League athletics competition in 28 minutes and 54.14 seconds.

The 24-year-old shattered the record of 29:01.03 established by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey in Hengelo on June 8, 2021. Gidey is a two-time medalist at the world championships in the 5,000m and the world champion in cross-country running. Chebet became the clear favorite to win gold at the August Olympics in Paris after winning the race that was selected as Kenya’s Olympic qualifying event.

Chebet became the first woman to break 29 minutes in the 10,000 meters thanks to the Hayward Field track’s “wavelight” pace-setting technology, the passionate crowd support, and the efforts of three pacemakers throughout the first half of the race in moderate, cloudy circumstances that were ideal for the event.

The event was promoted as a world record attempt by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, who broke the 5,000-meter world mark at Hayward Field in the Diamond League championships in September. It began action on Saturday but was not included in the Diamond League schedule.

Chebet, the 2022 global 5,000-meter silver medalist in Eugene and the 2017 world bronze medalist in Budapest, maintained her speed and precisely timed her charge to the lead. Tsegay came in second place with the third-fastest time of 20:05.92. The 10,000 meters, sometimes known as the 10,000-meter run, is a popular long-distance track running competition. This event is typical of championship-level competitions and is a component of the Olympic and World Athletics Championships athletics programs. 25 circuits around an Olympic-sized track make up the race. Because of its length, it is not as frequently held at track and field meets. The 10,000-meter track race is often identified from its equivalent in road racing, the 10K run, by using meters instead of kilometers as the unit of measurement.

The 10,000 meters, or roughly 32,808 feet 5 inches or 6 miles 376 yards, is the longest standard track event. The majority of competitors in this event also participate in cross-country and road races.

Finnish athletes known as the “Flying Finns” were added to the Olympic schedule in 1912 and went on to dominate the competition until the late 1940s. African runners started to gain prominence in the 1960s.[1]The women’s competition made its Olympic debut in 1988.

On Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Eugene, world champions Mary Moraa and Beatrice Chebet are scheduled for what promises to be an exciting Prefontaine Classic competition. Athletics Kenya will also use this method to choose its Olympic 10,000-meter qualifiers for both the men’s and women’s divisions.
World leader in 5000 meters this season, Kenya’s Chebet, a two-time cross-country champion, will compete in a women’s race against Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay. This occurs eight months after Tsegay used the same track to establish the world mark for the 5000 meters.

World record holder Beatrice Chepkoech will be competing, and her main goal will be to hang onto her dominant position in the steeplechase as she faces off against top rival Faith Cherotich. At the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen this year, Chepkoech and Cherotich set the two fastest times in the world, with Chepkoech winning in 8:55.40 compared to Cherotich’s 9:05.91.

The Kenyan pair will be fortunate to have Courtney Frerichs, the silver medalist from the Olympics, absent since she is unable to run due to an injury to her meniscus and ACL in her right knee.

Diribe Welteji, the Los Angeles champion, will lead 13 other competitors in the 1500m event. Elle St Pierre, the world indoor 3000m champion and the winner of the Los Angeles 5000m, is competing in her first 1500m of the season; other competitors include Laura Muir, Cory McGee, Jessica Hull, Hirut Meshesha, and Nikki Hiltz.

With multiple world and Olympic gold medalist Sifan Hassan and world number two Ejgayehu Taye competing, the 5000m event is also anticipated to showcase exciting action. Six of the eight athletes from last year’s World Championship final in Budapest, Hungary, will be competing against Moraa, the gold medalist and champion of the women’s 800m.

Keely Hodgkinson, the silver medallist, will be Moraa’s main opponent on Saturday. But the Olympic champion and bronze medallist Athing Mu is not competing. She was originally supposed to compete but was pulled from the race as a precaution due to a strained hamstring.