NAIROBI, Kenya, December 31 – Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet rounded off her year on a high with a world record in the women’s 5km race at the Cursa del Nassos in Barcelona on New Year’s Eve.
Chebet clocked 0:13:54 to storm across the finish line, ahead of Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa (0:14:23) and Belinda Chemutai of Uganda (0:14:36) who came second and third respectively.
It was Chebet’s second consecutive win in the race following last year’s edition where she clocked 0:14:13 to grab victory.
Moreover, it is the 24-year-old’s second world record in 2024 after clocking 28:54.14 in the women’s 10,000m at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon, United States in May.
Chebet then went on to grab the headlines at the Paris Olympics in what was her debut in the competition.
She clocked 30:43.25 to win the women’s 10,000m and become the first Kenyan to win the Olympic title since the race was introduced in the competition in 1988 in Seoul.
Chebet also clocked 14:28.56 to win Kenya’s first ever Olympic title in the women’s 5000m after Vivian Cheruiyot in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Kipkoech edges tight men’s race
In the men’s race, Matthew Kipkoech exhibited nerves of steel to cross the finish line first — clocking 0:13:28.
It was a tight finish in which Frenchman Pierrik Jocteur Monrozier had to be content with second despite also clocking 0:13:28 as Spain’s Abdessamad Oukhelfen came third in 0:13:30.
