All hail the new champion of 10,000m in the world of athletics!
Ugandan long-distance runner Joshua Cheptegei has set a new world record.
On Wednesday at the Turia Stadium in Valencia, Spain, Cheptegei broke the 15-year 10,000m World record previously held by legend Kenenisa Bekele.
The Ugandan star marathoner posted 26:11.0 during the NN Valencia World Record Day, slashing six seconds off Bekele’s record.
The 24-year-old’s success marked his fourth world record within a year. It could be recalled that the Ugandan athlete in August set a new record for the 5000m at the Monaco Diamond League.
“This (World Record) only lays a foundation (of greatness),” Cheptegei says. An excited Cheptegei told reporters “We live in a difficult situation now with COVID, but this event can still give us joy and still give us hope for tomorrow, knowing that we need to take precautions to defeat the virus”.
Meanwhile, another record was set in the 5000m marathon. Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey brings the new reference mark to 14’06”62, nearly 5 seconds better than her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba who held the world record since 2008.
