Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet became the first woman in history to cover 5000m inside 14 minutes, clocking a world record of 13:58.06 at the Prefontaine Classic, the ninth stop of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League, in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Kenyan, returning to the scene of her world 10,000m record from last year, was tracked for most of the race by Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, who held the world record prior to this race, and Agnes Jebet Ngetich of Kenya.
Nearly all 12,650 seats at Hayward Field, University of Oregon were filled by the time of the women’s 5000m race, which also served as the Kenyan Trial for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
From the start, the competitors maintained a world-record pace, completing the first 1000m in 2:47.07. The second pacemaker guided the runners through 2000m in 5:35.37 before stepping aside, leaving Chebet, Tsegay, and Ngetich to pull ahead of the pack.
Chebet reached the 3000m mark in 8:22.96, which was 1.04 seconds faster than the pace needed for a sub-14-minute finish. Although the pace slowed slightly over the next kilometre, with 4000m reached in 11:14.12, Chebet conserved energy for the final stretch.
She surged forward with 200m remaining. Tsegay’s effort began to wane, allowing Ngetich to overtake her, but Chebet was unstoppable, finishing in 13:58.06 and breaking Tsegay’s world record by 2.15 seconds.
Agnes Ngetich secured second place with a time of 14:01.29, the third-fastest ever, while Gudaf Tsegay finished third in 14:04.41.
“I’m so happy,” said Beatrice Chebet after the race. “After running in Rome, I said I have to prepare for a record, because in Rome I was just running to win a race, but after running 14:03, I said that I’m capable of running a world record. So, let me go back home, and then come to Eugene.”
“When I was coming here to Eugene, I was coming to prepare to run a world record, and I said I have to try. I said if Faith is trying, why not me? And today, I’m so happy because I’ve achieved being the first woman to run under 14. I’m so happy for myself.
“Discipline and hard work, my coach and my husband have been there assisting me in everything I’m doing in training and supporting me, and Faith has been a close friend to me. Hayward Field is good for me. This isn’t my first time coming here, so I can say that it’s a good track for me.
“I’m happy to represent my country and I know when going to the World Championship, we have a strong field. We hope for good health and good results there,” she added.
