In less than two months, Kenenisa Bekele has lost two world records of those that seemed eternal. Joshua Cheptegei He has taken both the 5000m and the 10000m from him. They are the icing on the cake to a brilliant career that has only just begun: at the age of 24, he is the reigning 10,000m and cross world champion, also a 5,000m in the Diamond League, and the global record holder for the 15km route. He needs to shine in the Games, Tokyo awaits him, before making the leap to a marathon, where budgets move outside the reach of the track.
Until 2020, Cheptegei was always sensed more of a championship athlete than a brand athlete. His best records, 12: 57.41 and 26: 48.36, were achieved last year by winning the diamond in Zurich and world gold in Doha. This summer, with no medals on the horizon, he has put a bite to the stopwatch and another to the history books. Time has stopped at 12: 35.36 and 26: 11.00. Two and six seconds, respectively, below the 5000m and 10000m records, which had been in possession of Bekele for 16 years. The Ethiopian will always have his indelible legacy in the form of titles on any surface.
Before closing the season with the World Half Marathon in Gdynia (Poland), in which it will be his debut in the distance, Cheptegei was organized a tailor-made event to beat his fifth world record. First he took the 15km route, in 2018, then the 10km (he would lose it later) and 5km, and finally the two track. Valencia as the perfect setting. Fast tartan. At sea level. Luxury hares. And the Ugandan did not disappoint.
And that during the first half of the race showed symptoms of not being in the best conditions. It was kept among the hares. I made the rubber. Did he stay? Recovered. Roy Hoornweg, Matthew Ramsdem and Nicolas Kimeli took him flying to the rhythm set by Bekele in 2005: 2: 37.9, 2: 37.2, 2: 37.7, 2: 37.0, 2: 37.9 and 2: 37.3 were the partials of the first 6000m. There he was left alone, but he kept nailing the steps: 2: 36.9, 2: 37.5 and 2: 37.3. He was already distancing himself from the legend, writing his own. The record was in his hand. Then, the last ax blow, two and a half laps in 2: 34.3 to stop the Turia Stadium scoring at 26: 11.00.
Ethiopia remains in command
Taking advantage of the event organized for Cheptegei within the framework of the Autonomous Championship of the Valencian Community, a 5000m was also planned for the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey. He was aiming for the world record of Tirunesh Dibaba, they sold. She, who even being the global record holder of 15km on the road, has not won any gold in a major championship. Yes, a silver in 10,000m and a bronze in cross, last year. Nor has he ever won a Diamond League meeting. He is 22 years old and has competed outside of Ethiopia for six years. The future is theirs, they pointed out. The present? It turns out that too.
And that Gidey, with a fluid and elegant stride, claimed to reach Valencia at 95%. Esther Guerrero first and the world record holder for 3000m hurdles Beatrice Chepkoech, later, did the work of hare to perfection. In the 3000m step, which she did in 8: 31.8, seven seconds below the past record, the young hopeful was left alone. He had no problems. He sped up to run the fourth kilometer in 2:48 and the fifth in 2:47. Stopped the clock on 14:06.62, almost five seconds faster than Dibaba’s record, 14: 11.15. Gidey already has his record, but he still has to match his record: three golds and three Olympic bronzes, five golds and one silver in World Championships on track and four golds and two silver in World Cross Country.
Cheptegei’s is the twentieth outdoor men’s world record that has been broken in Spain, the tenth in an Olympic event. Of course, the Ugandan’s one, and Kevin Young’s in 400m hurdles (46.78) and Javier Sotomayor in high jump (2.45m) among the Olympians, in addition to Rhonex Kipruto’s in 10km on the road (26:24). Gidey’s is the eighteenth global women’s outdoor record held on Spanish soil, eighth in an Olympic event. Only his and Hong Liu’s in 20km march (1:24:38) remain in force.
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