Beatrice Chebet, the 24-year-old Kenyan long-distance runner, had an impressive run on Dec. 31 at the Cursa dels Nassos road race in Barcelona. There, she set a new world record of 13:54s.
Beatrice broke the 14-minute barrier, which was previously the time when women athletes completed the 5k distance run. She broke her own record, which stood at 14:13s, which she set in 2023 at the same race in Barcelona.
2024 will forever be a monumental year for Chebet, given her outstanding performance at the Olympics and other athletics competitions. Beatrice started in March by securing a gold medal at the Senior Women’s cross-country race held in Belgrade. She won two gold medals at the Paris Olympics in the 5000m and 10,000m events. A few weeks after the Olympics, she won gold in the 5000m event at the Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium.
5k Distance
The 5k run was officially recognized by the World Athletics in 2017, with its set pace record set in January 2018 at 13:10 for men and 14:45 for women. The competition has since been dominated by Kenyans, with Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui setting the first record at 14:48 in 2018 in Praha, Czech Republic. In 2021, the record was broken twice, with Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya beating Caroline’s record by 5 seconds at 14:43 in Monaco. However, in December, Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia greatly reduced the time to 14:19 in Barcelona. At the start of 2024, Agnes Jebet Ngetich beat the previous record by 6 seconds to 14:13 in Valencia, Spain. Chebet’s record is the latest record set in this category.
What Should We Expect?
Track fans worldwide are amused at the spectacular performance, which is shy of 44 seconds to beat the set record expectation for the men’s 5k race. The trajectory of the race has seen a better performance each time the World Athletics organizes a race. Should we expect to see a higher record in 2025?
