Cheptegei after another Bekele record in October

By Allan Darren Kyeyune

It is barely a month since Joshua Cheptegei stunned the world by breaking Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele’s 16-year-old 5000m world record (WR) in emphatic style at the Monaco Diamond League.

Just 20 days after posting 12mins, 35.36 secs, the Ugandan long-distance runner and his Dutch management Global Sports Communication (GSC) announced Thursday that he will attempt to run a fourth straight WR next month.

GSC’s elite long-distance franchise NN Running Team released a short 44-second video stating Cheptegei will attempt to break Bekele’s 10000m world record on October 7 in Valencia, Spain.

“When there aren’t many races, we aim for the highest. Joshua Cheptegei is going for the 10.000 meters world record!” read NN Running’s tweet.

The 25-lap race will headline the NN Valencia World Record Day event at Turia Stadium.
“I’m really happy to announce on October 7, I’ll go for the 10000 metres world record,” Cheptegei would later post.

Bekele posted the 10000m WR in a time of 26 min, 17.53 secs at the Brussels Memorial Van Damme in Belgium on August 26, 2005.

Ugandan Boniface Kiprop came second in that race with a time of 26 mins, 39.77 secs, which still stands as the country’s national record.

Cheptegei’s personal best (PB) over this distance is 26:48.36, which he posted en route to winning the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last year.

Not too early
The only man to come closest to Bekele’s WR in 15 years is Kenyan Micah Kogo with 26 mins, 35.63 secs on August 25, 2006. Yet, Cheptegei’s PB is almost 30 seconds adrift.

And Bekele had run the previous 5000m WR mark about 15 months prior in Hengelo, Netherlands on May 31, 2004.
So isn’t it too early to go for another WR?

“Not at all,” Cheptegei’s manager Jurrie van der Velden told this paper. “It’s the right time.
“That’s what people thought about going down from 12.57.41 to break the 5000m WR of 12.37 and he ran 12.35 (in Monaco).”

And ten days later, Cheptegei will still be in Valencia to debut over the 21km race at the World Half-Marathon Championships.

“We are here to write history. And we are known for doing things differently and so far it’s paid off,” ,the Dutchman added.

On the flip side, Cheptegei is a man in form depicted by his last five races. He posted the 10K WR on December 10 in Valencia, did the 5K WR on February 16 in Monaco before returning there on August 14.

The 23-year-old’s previous two races before Valencia last year had him scoop the 5000m DL title in Zürich, Switzerland on August 26 and then the 10000m world title on October 6.

Cheptegei last five races

August 26, 2019
5000m Diamond League Title
October 6, 2019
10000m World Title
December 10, 2019
10K World Record
February 16, 2020
5K World Record
August 14, 2020
5000m World Record

Cheptegei personal bests
1500m 3:37.82 (2016) –
3000m 7:33.26 (2019) –
Two miles 8:07.54 (2019) NR
5000m 12:35.36 (2020) WR
10000m 26:48.36 (2019)
5km 12:51 (2020) WR
10km 26:38 (2019) NR
15km 41:05 (2018) WB
10M 45:15 (2018) NR
NR - National Record, WR - World Record,
WB - World Best
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