Faith Kipyegon Breaks 5000M World Record in Paris Diamond League

Faith Kipyegon on Friday achieved an incredible feat after setting a new world record for the women's 5,000m at the Paris Diamond League.

This remarkable performance came barely a week after she had already broken the 1,500m record in Florence, Italy, with an astonishing time of 3 minutes and 49.11 seconds. In Paris, she went on to completely obliterate the 5,000m record, crossing the finish line in an impressive 14:06.62.

Beatrice Chepkoech, the world record holder in the 3,000m steeplechase, abandoned the race after 3,000m with Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia in the lead and Kipyegon right behind her. Kipyegon steadily pulled ahead of Gidey after 4,200m, eventually claiming the victory and setting a new world record of 14:06.62, which was faster than Gidey's previous record set on July 10, 2020, in Valencia, Spain. This makes Kipyegon the first Kenyan woman to hold the 5,000m world record.

“No, I did not think about the World Record, I do not know how I made it. I just focused on the green light and tried to stay relaxed and enjoy the race. I just did the race and wanted to see what happens, when I saw that it was a WR I was so surprised,” said the 29-year-old 2016 and 2020 Tokyo Olympics 1,500m champion.

Kipyegon outran Gidey, the Olympic 10,000m winner, to take first place in a season-best time of 14:07.94, with another Ethiopian, Taye Ejgayehu, coming in third with 14:13.31. All Kipyegon wanted, she said, was to compete with Gidey, whom she praised as an incredible female athlete.

“I am so happy, I am very emotional right now and do not know what to say. If my body is healthy, anything is possible,” said Kipyegon.

Comments

If the sportswoman of the…

Maxiley (not verified) Sat, 06/10/2023 @ 01:53am

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If the sportswoman of the year a ward was being contested now, without question, Faith would own it. Two world records withing a span of 8 days is just off the charts.What is even surprising is that the last time she ren 5000 meters was in 2015,with a time of 14.31 mins.
I still think barring any unforeseem mishap,she should be the sports woman of the year by the end of 2023.I dont foresee her loosing any race in her speciality this year.
Thanks Kipyegon.You have faithfully delivered every time you have stepped on the track or the crosscountry grounds. Keep up the good work.You are indeed an inspiration and a amodel, not only to young girls in Kenya,but all over the world.
Side stepping alittle, I would like to ask the experts to tell us what is wrong with men's steeplechase in Kenya.Their dismal performance in the last 3 years is worrisome. Gone are the days when Kenyans used to have a clean sweep in men's sleepchase...I keep on hearing that we have vast talents so what is the problem? Are we not having talents steeplechase? After dominating this event for over 38 years,surely these are valid questions.
Another valid question is why are we leading the world in doping.This is a title we dont need.It makes our clean runners look suspect,unfortunately. What a shame.Not too long ago 20 Kenyans were flagged down for doping.This si in addition to the over70 Kenya athletes that have been banned.My fear is that if this trend continues, Kenya like Russia will be banned from international events. Can you imagine Faith Kipyegon missing in action because Kenya has been banned from world champship games?