Athletic lovers all over the world were served with a sizable dose of excitement as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei smashed the 15 year old 10,000m world record in Valencia Spain on Wednesday.
The fifteen year old record smashed by the inform Cheptegei was set by Ethiopian national Kenenisa Bakele ( 26:17:53) in 2005.
The Ugandan athlete ran the 25 laps in a record 26:11:02, 6: 51 faster than the Ethiopian’s record set fifteen years ago.
Speaking to the media shortly before the race, a very confident Cheptegei assured the world that his dream in the game is to become the fastest long distance runner in history and the day’s performance indeed proved he has what it takes to achieve the fit.
He said the performance would serve as a springboard for achieving the long-term set objectives in the athletic game.
“I wanted to live to the expectation of the Valencia World Record Day, so it means the world to me that I fulfil my dream. We are trying to write history into the track. We want the world to know that the track is still exciting, so we give it our all so that sports lovers can have the benefit of their time. I think this lays a foundation of what I can achieve and what’s still to come. We live in a difficult time of Covid. And this event can still give us joy and hope for tomorrow,”Cheptegei said.
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