Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey broke world records in distance track races in Valencia, Spain, on Wednesday.
World 10,000m champion Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei broke the 15-year-old 10,000m record after posting 26mins 11.00 seconds.
He lowered the previous mark of 26min 17.53sec set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in 2005 in Brussels.
“It was my dream. We are trying to write history on the track and make people know that track is still exciting. I think this is just the foundation of what I want to achieve in years to come,” said the double Commonwealth champion.
Aug. 14, Cheptegei lowered Bekele’s 5000m world record by two seconds to 12:35.36 in Monaco.
Gidey who is the world 10,000m silver medalist took 4.5 seconds off countrywoman Tirunesh Dibaba‘s 12-year-old 5000m world record.
She crossed in 14:06.62.
“This is a long-time dream,” said the 23-year-old Gidey.
