Chebet stuns with second gold medal at Tokyo World Championships
Exactly one week after winning gold in the women’s 10,000m event, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet won her second title at the Tokyo 25 World Championships after producing yet another one of the most devastating kicks in the championships that saw her outsprint Faith Kipyegon in the home stretch of the women’s 5000m final.
She recorded 14:54.36 for the win.
“Going home with two gold medals makes me really happy. After winning the 10,000 metres, I wanted to add the 5000 metres again, like I did in Paris,” Chebet said after the remarkable feat.
The best way to ensure success in any sector of life is to find out whatever world best for you and leave out the rest. Seating back and awaiting to finish strongly did work well for Chebet on the first day of the championships. She executed that again in the 5000m final reacting with the whole huge leading pack as they came to the bell, then staying behind Kipyegon in the last lap until they reached the homestraight where she overtook for the win.
Chebet’s season has been great since she last won the two Olympic titles last year. Besides remaining unbeaten in her special distances (except at the Kenyan trials), she set a new world record for the 5000m event in July, running 13:58.06.
“I’ve had an amazing season. I always encourage myself and believe we don’t need to limit ourselves. When you do a good training session, you can face any challenge. Running with the likes of Faith and Nadia you just have to believe in yourself.
“Today was not an easy race. I came here without pressure and I knew I should not stress myself. If you lose or win, you need to believe in yourself and in being able to come back stronger. It will be amazing bringing home gold and silver to Kenya,” said Chebet.
Her long-time friend and teammate, Faith Kipyegon, finished second in 14:55.07.
“I am so grateful to come home with a silver medal in the 5000m. My prayer was to be on the podium. I haven’t raced so many 5000 metre races this year so I’m grateful. My friend Beatrice Chebet is the best. She has the world record, she is very tough to beat.
“I knew it was going to be a battle until the finish line and it was a great one. It’s very important for the next generations to see me winning, breaking records and still pushing myself. Winning a silver medal today, it shows to everyone out there that everything is possible. I never take any medal for granted, we’re all strong, everything can happen. I’m now going to have some sleep and go back home and enjoy some time with my daughter,” said Kipyegon.
Nadia Battocletti of Italy finished third, winning a bronze medal to add to the silver medal she had won in the 10,000m.
Agnes Ngetich of Kenya, the third fastest runner in history over the distance with a time of 14:01.29, had one thing to do to ensure she was on the podium: run a fast time. The only other people who would have run faster than her were Chebet and Tsegay.
However, Ngetich wasn’t willing to move to the front and make it a fast race from the beginning and ended up fading when the track specialists finally made their moves in the last two laps. Her finish time in 15th place was 15:13.78, which is over one minute slower than her personal best time. But then again, she had run through the heats after the 10,000m race and was definitely not in her fresh legs.
This was the fifth gold medal for Kenya at the championships and it cemented the nation’s position in second place behind the USA at the medal table.
