This archive report was first published on 1 December 2019.
On a historic day in Valencia, Spain, Ugandan athlete Joshua Cheptegei shattered the 10km world record with a blistering time of 26:38 on December 1, 2019.
His remarkable achievement shaved off six seconds from the previous record of 26:44 set by Kenya's Patrick Komon in 2010, capping off a phenomenal year for Cheptegei that included world titles in cross-country and 10,000m on the track.
Leading the pack was pacesetter Roy Hoornweg, who covered the initial kilometre in 2:42. Cheptegei briefly took the lead, demanding a quicker pace, which was met by the second kilometre, with the clock reading 5:42 for a 2:40-kilometre split.
After Hoornweg dropped out, Stephen Kissa and Abdallah Mande took command, with Cheptegei in tow. The trio covered three kilometres in 7:57, well inside the world record schedule.
Following a 2:41 split for the fourth kilometre, Cheptegei overtook the pacemakers before the halfway point, reaching 5km in 13:23, just one second shy of the world record for that distance.
Running solo over the second half, Cheptegei reached 6km in 16:02 and 7km in 18:42. He forged on, reaching 8km in 21:37, when it became clear that the world record was within reach.
With 23:59 on the clock at the 9km point, Cheptegei needed to cover the final kilometre in 2:45, a feat well within his capabilities.
“World cross champion in Denmark, 10,000m world champion in Doha and now the world record here in Valencia. What a year it has been,” Cheptegei said. “I can’t believe it! I knew that Valencia was going to be a really fast course, one of the fastest in the world. So to get to achieve what we came here for is something really special.”
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