Cheptegei, Gidey smash distance records in Valencia

VALENCIA: Joshua Cheptegei have smashed Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old men’s 10,000m world record by more than six seconds in Valencia.

The 24-year-old Uganda star turned in a stunning time of 26minutes 11.00seconds, to shatter Bekele’s best — which had been the longest-standing 10,000m world record in history. Cheptegei’s latest record-breaking feat is his fourth world record in just 10 months.

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey broke the women’s 5,000m record too, on an eventful night in Spain. The 22-year-old Gidey clocked 14minutes 6.62seconds, moving well past Tirunesh Didaba’s 14minutes 11.15seconds best from 2008.

On August 20, Cheptegei set a new 5,000m world record as heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson came sixth in the high jump at the Diamond League in Monaco.

Cheptegei finished the 5,000m in 12:35.36 to break a record that had stood for 16 years, set by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele.

The race was also the 23-year-old’s first on the track of the season, with the majority cancelled or postponed amid the Covid-19 global pandemic.