Beatrice Chebet: Olympic champion ends 2024 on a high with new 5km World Record

Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet has become the first female runner in history to break the 14 minutes mark in the 5km after running a blistering new World Record (WR) of 13:54* at the Cursa dels Nassos World Athletics Label road race in Barcelona.

By doing this, the Kenyan icon bettered the previous record by 19 seconds, thus ending the year 2024 as a two-time WR holder, having set the 10,000m record of 28:54.14 at the Diamond League in Eugene.

Chebet set out at a blistering pace, covering the opening kilometre in 2:46. Ethiopian duo Medina Eisa and Melknat Wudu, plus Uganda’s Belinda Chemutai, followed in 2:50 – still inside world record pace.

The world 5000m champion went through the second kilometre in 5:35, putting her well ahead of schedule to break the 14:13 she ran here last year. By this point, Eisa was already 60 metres in arrears in second place.

After another brisk 2:49 kilometre, Chebet reached 3km in 8:24 – eight seconds inside world record pace. She increased her pace and covered the fourth kilometre in 2:44, putting her on schedule to break 14 minutes. With a 2:46 closing kilometre, the 24-year-old crossed the line in 13:54 to smash the world record.

Chebet's final race of the year in Barcelona makes her the undisputed queen of long-distance and road-running events, having stayed undefeated and engraved her name in the anals of history.