Female Athletes Are Shattering Records and Stereotypes
At the Diamond League (Prefontaine Classic) in Eugene, Kenyan middle-distance runners Beatrice Chebet and Faith Kipyegon delivered stunning performances in the women's 5000m and 1500m, pushing the women's world records in both events into a new era and showcasing the power and unique charm of female athletes.
At the Diamond League (Prefontaine Classic) in Eugene, Kenyan middle-distance runners Beatrice Chebet and Faith Kipyegon delivered stunning performances in the women's 5000m and 1500m, pushing the women's world records in both events into a new era and showcasing the power and unique charm of female athletes.
Chebet
Women's 5000m Breaks 14-Minute Mark for the First Time
On July 6th, at the Diamond League Eugene stop, two-time Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet of Kenya won the women's 5000m with a powerful time of 13:58.06, becoming the first runner to break 14 minutes in the event and improving the previous world record by 2.15 seconds.
For Chebet, Eugene is a haven, having broken the women's 10,000m world record there last year. Returning to Eugene for her return, Chebet expressed confidence. "After Rome (running 14:03.69), I knew I had the potential to break the world record."
From the start of the race, Chebet, the previous world record holder, Gudav Tsegai, and Agnes Jebet Engetic engaged in a fierce battle, completing the first 1000 meters in just 2:47.07. By the 2000-meter mark, with the leader's departure, the leading group, including Chebet and the other three, had clearly demonstrated their determination to challenge for the championship and even the record. At the 3000-meter mark, Chebet's time reached 8:22.96, 1.04 seconds faster than the 14-minute benchmark for the event. In the final stages of the race, Chebet launched an all-out sprint, ultimately winning the championship with a historic sub-14-minute time. Engetic finished second in 14:01.29, the third-best time in history. Kipyegin
Kipyegen breaks the world record again
Just over an hour after Chebet made history, Faith Kipyegin, also from Kenya, once again shocked the world in the women's 1500m. The Olympic champion broke the world record for the third time, crossing the finish line in 3:48.68, bringing the women's 1500m into the 3:49 era for the first time.
Born in 1994, Kipyegin was considered a prime example of "starting at the top" after winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But what no one could have imagined was that her true peak had only just begun after she became a mother in 2022.
In 2023, Kipyegin made a comeback, first breaking the women's 1500m world record in 3:49.11 at the Diamond League Florence in June, and then breaking the women's 5000m world record a week later at the Diamond League Paris. On July 22nd of the same year, she broke the world record in the women's mile at the Diamond League Monaco stop, completing a remarkable feat of breaking three world records in 49 days.
Kipyegen is known as the "King of the 1500m" because she has broken three world records, from the 2023 Diamond League Florence stop to the 2024 Diamond League Paris stop, and now at the Diamond League Eugene stop, bringing the women's 1500m into a new era of 3 minutes and 49 seconds. This performance has made her the undisputed king of the women's 1500m.
