Beatrice Chebet Runs 13:54 on the Roads in Barcelona to Become First Woman Ever Under 14:00 for 5K

Beatrice Chebet smashed the women’s 5k road world record at the Cursa dels Nassos race in Barcelona on Tuesday, closing out a historic year highlighted by double gold at the Paris Olympics. Chebet clocked 13:54 to destroy her own road world record of 14:13 set in the same race last year (later tied by Agnes Ngetich in Valencia in January 2024) and become the first woman ever under 14:00 for 5 kilometers (the track world record is 14:00.21, set by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay in 2023).

Chebet, 24, began 2024 as one of the world’s top female distance runners, but had been overshadowed in the biggest races by older, more established stars. In 2022, she finished 2nd in the World Championships 5,000 final behind Tsegay. In 2023, she earned bronze in the 5,000 at Worlds behind Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan. At that year’s Diamond League final in Eugene, she ran 14:05.92 — a time that would have been the world record just four months earlier but instead that run didn’t even win the race even though it ranked her #3 on the all-time list behind Tsegay and Kipyegon.

Though Chebet did win the world cross country title in 2023, this was the year she established herself as a true superstar, and her 2024 season will go down as one of the greatest ever by a female distance runner. In March, Chebet became the first woman in 18 years to repeat as world cross country champion when she successfully defended her title in Belgrade, leading a 1-2-3-4-5 Kenyan sweep. In May, she set a world record 28:54.14 at the Prefontaine Classic to become the first woman under the 29:00 barrier on the track.

At the Paris Olympics, she upset fellow Kenyan Faith Kipyegon to win gold in the 5,000m — her first global track title — then completed the double by winning the Olympic 10,000m crown four days later. After the Olympics, Chebet took a crack at the 5,000m world record on the track in Zurich but came up short and had to settle for the win in a world-leading 14:09.52. Now, thanks to her run in Barcelona, she is the first woman to break the 14:00 barrier.

Despite her historic season, Chebet was snubbed by World Athletics in its year-end awards voting; Chebet was ridiculously not even named a finalist for World Athletics women’s track athlete of the year, losing out to the USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia (voting took place in October and November).

*Full results of 2024 Cursa dels Nassos 5K

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You can watch a replay of Chebet’s world record below: