Audio By Carbonatix
Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei smashed the men's 10,000m world record as Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey broke that of the women's 5,000m in Valencia.
Cheptegei, 24, clocked 26 minutes 11.00 seconds to beat Kenenisa Bekele's 15-year-old time by more than six seconds.
Gidey, 22, clocked 14 minutes 6.62 seconds to better the 14mins 11.15secs set by Tirunesh Dibaba in 2008.
They achieved the feats at the NN Valencia World Record Day, a one-off event taking place in the Spanish city.
"I'm happy," said Gidey, who won 10,000m silver at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. "This has been a long-time dream. It is very big for me."
Bekele's previous world record time of 26mins 17.53secs had been the longest standing men's 10,000m world record in history.
Cheptegei's success marks his fourth world record in 10 months, having broken the 10km road best in December and the 5km road record in February.
At the Monaco Diamond League in August, he broke another of Bekele's world records, beating his 16-year-old mark in the 5,000m by two seconds.
The World Record Day, in which both Cheptegei and Gidey had pacemakers, took place at Valencia's Turia stadium with 400 people present.
Latest Stories
-
Mahama calls for permanent global system to secure restitution of Africa’s cultural heritage
2 minutes -
EOCO must understand constitutional protections for MPs – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
13 minutes -
Bagbin recalls Parliament for September 29 sitting following calls to probe narcotics seizures
38 minutes -
Average lending rate stood at 15.9% as of August 2026
39 minutes -
Repeated cocaine seizures could hurt Ghana’s trade reputation – CDM
54 minutes -
Baffour Awuah’s failed arrest, parliamentary immunity & PDS bail conditions
1 hour -
Stop producing research that ends up on shelves – Prof Dittoh challenges Ghanaian academics
1 hour -
Ghana’s growing youth population could become unemployment time bomb — Alan Kyerematen warns
1 hour -
Ghana signs agreement with Intel to expand AI for Youth programme
1 hour -
AFCON 2027Q: ‘Our goals are clear’ – Carlos Queiroz on qualification
1 hour -
Use legal means to achieve legal ends – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu on MP’s attempted arrest
1 hour -
Government pledges support for fashion industry through skills, technology and market access
1 hour -
Gender Minister joins First Lady at OAFLAD summit as Ghana pushes stronger support for women, children
1 hour -
Black Queens defender Susan Ama Duah signs for Mexican side Tigres
1 hour -
Carlos Queiroz’s real test begins as Ghana face Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké
1 hour