Beatrice Chebet’s 5km World Record Officially Ratified Four Months After December Run

Beatrice Chebet’s world women’s 5km world record at the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona has been officially ratified.

The announcement by World Athletics was made on Friday just four months after Chebet stunned the running world with her sub-14-minute performance.

On December 31, 2024, Chebet clocked a sensational 13:54, becoming the first woman in history to run under 14 minutes for the distance on a road or track.

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The record broke her own previous mark of 14:13, set at the same event exactly a year earlier.

Chebet’s historic run capped off a dominant year that saw her achieve glory on multiple fronts, including a golden double at the Paris Olympics.

“I’m super happy as everything went according to plan,” she said as per World Athletics.

"I felt capable of running under 14 and I managed to do so. My focus for next year is to win gold medals over 5000m and 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo.”

Starting alongside the men in Barcelona, Chebet finished 14th overall, just 26 seconds behind men’s winner and fellow Kenyan Matthew Kipkoech.

The women’s runner-up, 19-year-old Ethiopian Medina Eisa, delivered a remarkable performance of her own, finishing in 14:23 to break the U20 world record.

Chebet’s record was one of several standout achievements in a record-breaking stretch for athletics.

In February, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen set two world indoor records at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin.

First, he passed 1500m in 3:29.63—beating his own short track record—and went on to finish the mile in 3:45.14, surpassing Yared Nuguse’s time set just five days earlier.

Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi also joined the world record club by clocking 1:16:10 in the 20km race walk at the national championships in Kobe.

“With my performance today, I was able to express my appreciation towards my supporters who stuck along even during the last season when I was struggling,” said the two-time world champion.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis raised the bar yet again in pole vault, clearing 6.27m in Clermont-Ferrand on February 28 to set his 11th career world record.