World Record! Joshua Cheptegei Breaks Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old 10, 000M Record

Uganda’s sensational Joshua Cheptegei did it again, as he broke the men’s 10,000m world record in Valencia on Wednesday, October 7.

In a one-off event dedicated to breaking two world records, Cheptegei clocked 26:11:02 at the NN World Record Day event in Valencia, Spain to beat Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old 10,000m record of 26:17.53.

“It was my dream. We are trying to write history on the track and make people to know that track is still exciting,” the 10,000m world champion, said after.

Asked if this moment means he has ‘achieved greatness’ in athletics, he had this to say:

“I think this is just the foundation of what I want to achieve in years to come.”

Bekele’s previous world record time of 26mins 17.53secs had been the longest standing men’s 10,000m world record in history.

Cheptegei’s success marks his fourth world record in 10 months, having broken the 10km road best in December and the 5km road record in February.

Congratulations Joshua! 👏@joshuacheptege1 is the new 10,000m world record holder. His time of 26:11.02 beats the 15-year-old world record by more than six seconds.

Watch the post-race show live on Olympic Channel 👉https://t.co/ek7alyXQtt @WorldAthletics @Official_UOC pic.twitter.com/Ra2Ntrsxpz

— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) October 7, 2020

In August, a strengthened Cheptegei was in fine form as he broke another Kenenisa Bekele record in 5,000M by two seconds at the Monaco Diamond League.

Following that performance, double 10,000m Olympic champion world record holder Haile Gebreselassie described the Ugandan as ‘simply the best’.