Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon has broken her second distance running world record in just seven days, clocking 14 minutes and 5.20 seconds in the 5,000m at the Charlety Stadium in Paris.
The previous record of 14:06.62 was set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey last October.
Kipyegon’s achievement was met with respect from Gidey, who finished second on Friday night with a time of 14:07.94 and hugged Kipyegon at the finish line.
Ferdinand Omanyala also impressed, clocking his first sub-10 seconds on European soil to finish second in the men’s 100 metres behind USA’s World 200 metres champion Noah Lyles.
Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma broke the 3,000m steeplechase world record and Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran a world best in the two-mile race at the same event.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi also ran his second world lead of the year in the men’s 800m.
National Olympic Committee of Kenya President Paul Tergat congratulated all athletes on their performances, stating that “Faith Kipyegon has really shown consistency and determination…in short, this is her year and I believe going into next year, we will see more from her.” When asked if he fancied Kipyegon’s chances of doubling up on the Olympic track next summer, Tergat said “Since she has shown that she has the potential of doing that (doubling up), she can be able to do the same at the Olympics next year.”.
