Chebet of Kenya wins the first world title in a thrilling 10,000-meter race
Olympic champion and world record holder Beatrice Chebet won her first world championship on Saturday at the World Athletics Championships in a dramatic women’s 10,000-meter race that featured a late surge of speed.
The Kenyan finished the first leg of what she hopes will be a 5,000-10,000-meter double in Tokyo in 30 minutes 37.61 seconds, sprinting past the leading pack on the penultimate lap to match her performance at the Olympics in Paris last year.
“It was a tough, very tactical race but I ran the last 800m really hard… my mind was like I was in a 1500m race,” Chebet stated.
“I really wanted that gold medal, but I had to push myself, follow, and encourage myself. I was certain I had to win it because I had never taken home a gold at the global championships.
Nadia Battocletti finished second in an Italian record time of 30:38.23, earning a silver medal to go along with the one she earned in the Olympics last year after falling behind the Kenyan. However, she was unable to stay up with Chebet in the last moments.
In her fastest time of the year, Gudaf Tsegay, who led an Ethiopian podium sweep at the previous global championships in Budapest two years ago, managed to hold off Agnes Jebet Ngetich, Chebet’s teammate, to win bronze in 30:39.65.
After Japan’s Ririka Hironaka gave the crowded National Stadium stadium something to cheer about by leading the first eight laps, the medallists, Ngetich, and 2023 bronze winner Ejgayehu Taye ran as a pack for the final 4,000 meters.
When Tesgay broke about 1,000 meters from home, Taye fell behind, and Chebet wasn’t able to overtake her competitors until the last turn of the last lap.
The Kenyan, known as the Smiling Assassin, had too much speed and pulled away from Battocletti, who strained every muscle to try to stay with Chebet down the final straight. Battocletti’s medal was the first for Italy in the event at the worlds.
“It’s really big for a European girl to win a medal at this event with all the African runners,” remarked Battocletti.
“I intended to run the final 300 meters more quickly. I am proud even if I regrettably missed the gold moment. Silver medals are beginning to appeal to me.
Tsegay claimed that the circumstances had hampered her attempt to win the title again, despite the fact that her bronze was her sixth world championship medal.
“I did not expect such high humidity,” she stated. “Although I gave it my all, the other females crossed the finish line a little quicker. Our sport is that. It’s fascinating and erratic.
The only women to have previously won the distance double at the world championships are Vivian Cheruiyot in 2011 and Tirunesh Dibaba in 2005, so Chebet will be hoping to join some elite company in the 5,000m next Saturday.
