Chebet shatters women's 5km world record in Barcelona
Sports
By
David Njaaga
| Dec 31, 2023
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet smashed the women’s 5km world record at the Cursa dels Nassos road race in Barcelona on Sunday, clocking 14 minutes 13 seconds.
The 23-year-old world cross-country champion eclipsed the previous women-only record of 14:29 set by Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi in September by 16 seconds.
She also ran six seconds faster than the women’s world record in a mixed race of 14:19, achieved by Ethiopia’s Ejegayehu Taye at the same event last year.
Chebet led from the start and maintained a blistering pace throughout the race, leaving behind a strong field of rivals. Taye, 23, finished second in 14:21, while Kenya’s Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, 26, was third in 14:26.
All three women had won medals at the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga in October, where Chebet claimed the gold.
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Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek was fourth in 14:28, also dipping under the previous women-only world record mark. Ethiopia’s 18-year-old Medina Eisa was fifth in 14:40, setting a new world U20 best for the distance.
The win capped off a remarkable year for Chebet, who also won bronze in the 5,000m at the World Championships in Budapest in August. She became the first woman to win both the world cross-country and world 5km titles in the same year, demonstrating her versatility and dominance on different surfaces and distances.
The men’s race was won by South Sudan’s Dominic Lobalu, 25, in 13:24, followed by Kenya’s Edwin Kiptoo, 28, in 13:25 and Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku, 20, in 13:26.
Britain’s Katie Snowden and Holly Dixon finished seventh and 10th respectively in the women’s race.
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