Pair smash world records

VALENCIA: Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei smashed the men’s 10,000m world record and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey demolished the women’s 5000m mark as the Valencia World Record Day meeting lived up to its name yesterday.

Cheptegei crossed the line at a nearempty Turia stadium in a stunning 26min 11.02sec to beat the time of 26min 17.5sec3 set in 2005 by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele by more than 6sec.

The achievement capped an outstanding 12 months for Cheptegei (24), who won the gold medal in the 10,000m at last year’s world championships in Doha, and in August took Bekele’s 5000m record at the

Diamond League meeting in Monaco.

Last December, also in Valencia, Cheptegei smashed a decadelong record in 10km road racing by 6sec.

Cheptegei’s outstanding display finished off a perfect event from the organisers’ point of view after Gidey (22) broke the women’s 5000m world record by more than 4sec, crossing the line in 14min 6.62sec.

Gidey easily beat the previous record of 14min 11.15sec set by compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in Oslo in 2008.

‘‘This is a longtime dream for me. I’m very happy, this is very big for me,’’ Gidey said. — Reuters