Beatrice Chebet / Courtesy
24-year-old Beatrice Chebet waltzed into the Kenya women's 10,000-metre team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after breaking the world record in the 25-lap race at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday.
Chebet won the race with a time of 28:54.14 to become the first woman in history to run 10,000 metres in 29 minutes.
The previous record of 29:01.03 remained for three years after Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey set it on June 8, 2021, in Hengelo, the Netherlands.
Gidey's compatriot, Gudaf Tsegay, crossed the finish line in second place with the third-fastest time, 29:05.92, in the history of the women's 10,000 metres.
Coincidentally, at the same Hayward Field last year, Tsegay won the 5 000 metres with a world record time, while Chebet finished third with the third-fastest time ever in the history of the race.
Tsegay's incredible second place time came at the expense of a Kenyan podium sweep in the race, as Lilian Kasait Rengeruk and Margaret Kipkemboi finished third and fourth in times of 29:26.89 and 29:27.59, respectively.
The fact that the quartet ended the race with personal best times just proves how fast the race was, as all athletes strived to keep up with the lights, setting a world record pace.
However, Chebet and Tegay managed to stay in the lead for the longest, but the Ethiopian had no answer when Chebet pulled away with three laps remaining.
To get ahead of the lights, the Kenyan increased her pace with 800 meters to go before blazing the track with an electrifying run that ended with a world record at the finish line.
Chebet hopes to double in the 5 000 meters and 10 000 meters, and with her participation in the former already guaranteed, she needed to perform well at the Prefontaince Classic, which marks one of Athletics Kenya's trial races for the Olympics. Without a doubt, Chebet's submission to join the Kenya women's team for the 10,000 metres is more than convincing.
Paris 2024 will be Chebet's first appearance at the Olympics, and she will be there eager to upset the status quo, having won silver and bronze medals at the last two World Athletics Championships in Budapest and Oregon, respectively.
