Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters final at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, October 6, 2019. /CFP
Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei smashed the 10,000 meters track world record and Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey set a new mark for the women's 5,000 meters on a heady night of athletics in Valencia on Wednesday.
All the talk in the run-up to the meet was of Cheptegei's assault on Kenenisa Bekele's time of 26min 17.53sec established in 2005 in Brussels.
The 24-year-old 10,000 meters world champion surpassed expectations, running the distance in 26mins 11.00 seconds to cement his standing as the new middle-distance maestro.
This was his third world record this year.
In February he claimed the world 5 kilometers road record in Monaco.
Then, after a period of coronavirus lockdown in his native Uganda, he returned to Monaco and, in his first race back, wiped almost two seconds off Bekele's 16-year-old track world record time over the 5,000 meters as he clocked 12min 35.36sec.
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda sets the new world record in men's 5000 meters at the Athletics Diamond League meeting in Monaco, August 14, 2020. /CFP
He becomes only the 10th athlete to concurrently hold the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters world records.
Cheptegei served notice of his class when he took silver at the 2017 world championships in London when he was still just 20.
Last year he went one better, collecting gold in Doha. He had already won the world cross country championship five months earlier.
Up to Wednesday Cheptegei only had the 18th quickest time over the distance with a best in Doha of 26min 48.36secs, over half a minute outside the record.
But his performance in August boded well and he was assisted by some rapid pacemakers, notably the Kenyan Nicholas Kimeli who was a world finalist over 5,000 meters, and electronic timing along the track.
Letesenbet Gidey (R) of Ethiopia competes in the women's 5,000 meters at the Athletics Diamond League meeting in Monaco, August 14, 2020. /CFP
Another factor for the fan of Manchester United was his footwear, Nike's carbon-plated Nike Vaporfly worn by Ethiopia's Gidey when she ran the earlier 5,000 meters in 14 minutes 6.62 seconds.
The 22-year-old was lowering the previous mark of 14min 11.15 held by her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba since 2008 by over four seconds.
Gidey put up the run of her short career a year after taking 10,000 meters silver at the world athletics championships in Doha.
With two pacemakers helping her record bid until the 3,000 meters marker Gidey maintained a ferocious pace to etch her name in athletics' record books.
"I'm happy," said Gidey. "I dreamed about this record for six years. I want to thank Valencia for giving me this chance.”