Gidey broke the former world record by five seconds, setting a new standard in women’s distance running
On Wednesday afternoon in Valencia, Spain, Letesenbet Gidey, 22, of Ethiopia shattered the women’s 5,000m world record previously held by Triunesh Dibaba by five seconds, running 14:06.65. Diababa’s record had stood for 12 years.
Gidey was the star of Wednesday’s field, with several pacers assigned directly to her. On top of the human pacers, she was guided by lights on the track indicating world record pace in green and target pace in blue. Gidey ran a flawless 5,000m, steadily ticking off 67- to 68-second laps – frankly, making it look easy. The runner was paced primarily by 3,000m steeplechase world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, who took her more than halfway in perfect time.
Gidey is also the world record holder in the 15K, which she ran in November 2019, and is the world silver medallist over the 10,000m.
Gidey’s time inches women closer to the 14-minute mark over 5,000m, which is a time that was unthinkable a mere 15 years ago. She is just another example of a woman who is closing the gap between the men’s and women’s world records. The women’s mark is now only 1:31 off the men’s record, held by Joshua Cheptegei, who will attempt to run the men’s 10,000m world record in a few minutes’ time.
Letesenbet Gidey shatters Dibaba’s 5,000m world record in 14:06.65
Cheptegei shatters Kenenisa’s 10,000 m world record
Joshua Cheptegei on Wednesday smashed the 10,000m track world record on a heady night of athletics in Valencia.
All the talk in the run-up to the meet was of Cheptegei’s assault on Kenenisa Bekele’s time of 26 minutes, 17.53 seconds, established in 2005 in Brussels.
The 24-year-old 10,000m world champion surpassed expectations, running the distance in 26 minutes, 11 seconds to cement his standing as the new middle distance maestro.
This was his third world record this year.
In February, he claimed the world 5km road record in Monaco. Then, after a period of COVID-19 lockdown in his native Uganda, he returned to Monaco and, in his first race back, wiped almost two seconds off Bekele’s 16-year-old track world record time over the 5,000m as he clocked 12 minutes, 35.36 seconds.
He becomes only the 10th athlete to concurrently hold the 5,000m and 10,000m world records.
Cheptegei served notice of his class when he took silver at the 2017 world championships in London when he was still just 20.
Last year, he went one better, collecting gold in Doha. He had already won the world cross country championship five months earlier.
Up to Wednesday Cheptegei only had the 18th quickest time over the distance with a best in Doha of 26 minutes, 48.36 seconds, over half a minute outside the record.
His performance in August boded well and he was assisted by some rapid pacemakers, notably Kenyan Nicholas Kimeli who was a world finalist over 5,000m, and electronic timing along the track.
Another factor for the fan of Manchester United was his footwear, Nike’s carbon-plated Vaporfly, worn by Ethiopia’s Gidey when she ran the earlier 5,000m in 14 minutes, 6.62 seconds.
The 22-year-old was lowering the previous mark of 14 minutes, 11.15 seconds held by her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba since 2008 by more than four seconds.
Gidey put up the run of her short career a year after taking 10,000m silver at the world athletics championships in Doha.
Ethiopian Shura stunned London as well Kipchoge
It proved 13th time unlucky as world record holder Eliud Kipchoge fluffed his lines at Sunday’s London marathon, won in a thrilling sprint finish by Ethiopian Shura Kitata.
The coronavirus-hit marathon, limited to elite runners and with no crowds, was the first Kipchoge hasn’t won since finishing second in Berlin in 2013 – he had won all 11 others he raced in, including the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Dropped at the 38km mark of the 42.2km race, Kipchoge could only watch from a distance as Kitata outpaced Kenyan Vincent Kipchumba in the final straight to win in 2hr 05min 41sec. Ethiopian Sisay Lemma took third.
Rather than the usual mazy run through the streets of the British capital, the course was made up of 19 1.5-mile loops around St James Park, with the iconic Buckingham Palace framing the finish line.
The men’s race had been touted as a showdown between Kenyan legend Kipchoge and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, arguably the best track athlete in the world.
But Bekele pulled out Friday with a calf injury, taking the gloss off what would have been a battle for the ages.
Instead, Kipchoge seemed to have missed the hot pace he is used to, meaning a lead pack of eight runners unusually remained in the running late into the race, held in cold, rainy conditions.
Having to negotiate the curves of the looped course, the pace fell well below the personal bests of the leading peloton. Fireworks were promised at the end, and so it proved.
The podium finishers came into the final kilometre three abreast. Lemma was dropped as Kipchumba surged, but Kitata somehow found a last drop of energy to reel the Kenyan in and keep his nose in front to win by a second in a dramatic finish.
“Kenenisa Bekele was helping me for this race and he advised me how to run. I trained for the same course, I am very happy to win the race,” Shura, who finished second in the 2018 London and New York Marathons, told BBC.
(BBC)
SuperSport acquires exclusive rights to broadcast Ethiopian Premier League matches
MultiChoice Group (MCG) announced that its subsidiary SuperSport has acquired exclusive rights to broadcast Ethiopian Premier League matches
In a statement MultiChoice sent to Capital said “this is an exciting opportunity to support Ethiopian football and its fans, and to affirm Multichoice Group’s commitment to investing in Ethiopia and across the African continent.”
SuperSport adds Ethiopia to its portfolio of soccer properties, which includes the Zambian Premier League and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa, reaffirming MCG’s commitment to investment in sport across Africa. The Ethiopian Premier League is the top association football division in Ethiopia, and comprises 16 clubs. Broadcasts of the Ethiopian Premier League will be carried across the entire territory of sub-Saharan Africa and the adjacent islands, where the appetite for soccer is substantial.
MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela emphasized the significance of the sport for the Group and what the deal means for Ethiopian football: “Through SuperSport, we are the leading broadcaster of sport in Africa, with our programming being viewed by millions of fans continent-wide. Sport is an integral part of our content offering and supporting the development of sport content makes sense for our business. This partnership will give the Ethiopian Premier League greater visibility, attracting fans from across the continent.”
Commenting on the agreement Ethiopian Premier League chairman, Lt. Fekade Mamo said “we recognise the importance of having the right partners on board to contribute in growing our league and to cultivate local talent. This is a significant step forward for the league, and will create a brighter future for players, the industry, and bring Ethiopian football closer to the world.”
Director of Multichoice Ethiopia, Omar Bagersh added, “this is an important milestone for Ethiopian football and will substantially impact the football landscape in the country and create multiple economic spin -offs around football in one of the largest countries on the African continent” MultiChoice Ethiopia CEO, Gelila G.Michael said, “This is an exciting addition on DStv, particularly for our customers in Ethiopia. We are eager to mobilize for this exciting task ahead and are underway to making every effort so that sports fans have easy access to our products and a seamless experience across the country.” SuperSport will produce the broadcasts, alongside the empowerment of local production staff. SuperSport’s holistic approach to developing local leagues has seen those leagues grow from strength to strength and the Ethiopian Premier League will no doubt benefit from having a partner of the stature and expertise of SuperSport as it looks to the future. This announcement is the latest in a series of exciting developments which mark MCG’s investment in Ethiopia. Through DStv Ethiopia and the investment in local content such as the Ethiopian Premier League, Amharic language channels such as Zee Alem, Nick Jnr Amharic and local free-to-air channels, MultiChoice is developing a strong value proposition to deliver world -class, locally relevant content to audiences across Ethiopia. “This is an important agreement for MCG, one which affirms our commitment to investing in Ethiopia and across Africa. We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to Ethiopia through the development of local skills and industries, and through exciting plans for content that speak to Ethiopians in their own voice. By continuing to invest in local markets across Africa we intend to create lasting value for local industries; and opportunities for local content creators; distribution of content in local languages and promotion of local talent,” added Mawela.
