Record night in Valencia: world record in 5,000 meters for women and 10,000 meters for men | sports



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It was a ranged track night in Valencia on Wednesday. The goal was two world records and two world records. Letesenbet Gidey improved the world record in the women’s 5,000 meters and Joshua Cheptegei broke the world record in the men’s 10,000 meters.

Rarely, perhaps never, were the stands so empty when two new athletics world records were set in one night. But that was the case on Wednesday in Valencia during Valencia World Record Day – the races still gathered a lot of spectators because they were shown for free and live online.

The aim of the contest was to put the reigning world records into the history books, and they succeeded.

Record

But the track of the races was also a bit special. When the ladies began the 5,000-meter race, eight runners stood at the starting line. Two of them were ready to try to pilot the 22-year-old Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey to a new world record, the remaining five something for local skills.

Very quickly, the two hares and Gidey withdrew, the remaining five were left far behind. For the last two kilometers of the race, Gidey had to fend for herself, which she did bravely.

Gidey crossed the finish line after 14.06.62, just four and a half seconds faster than the previous record of his compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba, who twelve years ago in Oslo ran the record of 5,000 meters 14.11.15.

I ran only half the race

Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda also broke a new world record on the hot night of records in Valencia. Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele broke the previous world record of 26.17.53 at the Dutch Hengelo in 2004, but is now a piece of athletics history: Cheptegei’s new record is 26.11.00.

As in Gidey’s record, there were plenty of hares that helped keep the pace right early in the race, but the question is how much they helped: the last twelve laps, almost half of the race, Cheptegei was forced to run alone.

What probably helped the most was the blue and green lights on the running track showing how fast you have to run to keep the world speed record.

The 24-year-old Ugandan also holds the 5,000-meter world record, 12.35.36, a record time he ran in Monaco in August.

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