Gidey, Cheptegei set world records on the track at NN Valencia World Record Day

Two days after the London Marathon, world 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei ran 26:11 around a track in Valencia, Spain, to take six seconds of f Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old world record over the distance. As Cheptegei ran lap after lap in consistent split s of around 63 seconds and posted a 5k split of 13:07 (with the help of a team of pacers), it was clear he would succeed. This was the 2 4-year-old Ugandan’s fourth world record (he also owns the WR in the 10k, 5 ,000m and 5k).

But before Cheptegei took to the track, 22-year-old Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, the world championships silver medallist in the 10,000m, smashed Tirunesh Dibaba’s world record in the women’s 5,000m, which had stood for 12 years. Ticking off 67and 68-second laps, Gidey clocked a 14:06.65 to lower the mark by five seconds, paced by 3,000m steeplechase world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech. Gidey also holds the world record over 15k.— AF