From the horse's mouth: How Beatrice Chepkoech shattered 2,000m steeplechase world record in Zagreb

© World Athletics.

From the horse's mouth: How Beatrice Chepkoech shattered 2,000m steeplechase world record in Zagreb

Joel Omotto 12:30 - 11.09.2023

Chepkoech now has two world records to her name and she has explained the tactics she used to obliterate the field in Sunday’s race in Croatia

World 3000m steeplechase record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech feels she is ‘lucky’ to have broken another world record after shattering the 2,000m steeplechase mark at the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday.

Chepkoech clocked 5:47.42 to win the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting following a dominant display that her rivals struggled to cope with.

The 32-year-old went into the event targeting the mark of 5:52.80 that had been achieved by Gesa Felicitas Krause in 2019 and she attacked it from the start.

Moving ahead of the pacemakers, she went on to pass half way in 2:51.15 and eventually took more than five seconds off the world best, with her 20-year-old compatriot Winnie Jemutai also getting incredibly close to the previous best with 5:52.92 for the runner-up spot.

Slovenia’s Marusa Mismas-Zrimsek was third in a national record of 5:53.38, while Albania’s Luiza Gega was fourth in 5:56.79.

“I had one world record and now I have two, so I am lucky,” said Chepkoech, as quoted by World Athletics.

“It is all about staying focused and positive, and I thank God I was able to run well during the season.”

Chepkoech, who has returned this season after injury in 2022, bagged silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary last month in a race won by Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi and the world record will give her plenty of encouragement.

The 2019 world champion, who is set to compete at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene next weekend, is also preparing for the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga on October 1, where she will contest the mile as part of the Kenyan team alongside Faith Kipyegon and Nelly Chepchirchir.