BEVERLY HILLS, October 07, (THEWILL) – Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei has broken the men’s 10, 000m World Record at the Valencia World Record Day on Wednesday evening whilst Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey broke the women’s 5,000m world record.
The 24-year-old recorded a time of 26:11:02 at the Estadi Del Turia which beat Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old world 10,000m record of 26:17.53.
“I wanted to lift the expectation of Valencia so it means the world to be that I am living my dream,” Cheptegei said afterwards.
“It means something great to me. You are trying to write history and let the people know that track is still exciting. Sports lovers in the world have the benefit of time by seeing us now [during Covid].”
Gidey, in her own race, demolished the women’s 5,000 metres world record by more than four seconds earlier in the evening, crossing the line in 14 minutes 6.62 seconds.
Gidey, 22, easily beat the previous record of 14:11.15 set by her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in Oslo in 2008.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.