Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet upset the applecart, beating a formidable field to take the Olympic 5,000m gold medal in athletics at Paris 2024 on Monday, 5 August.
Chebet produced a devastating kick over the final stretch to beat compatriot Faith Kipyegon to the line with a winning time of 14 minutes, 28.56 seconds (14:28.56).
Kipyegon, who finished second, was initially disqualified for obstruction following an incident between her and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay with two laps to go. Following an appeal, World Athletics confirmed that she had been reinstated as the silver medallist.
Tokyo 2020 champion Sifan Hassan finished third in 14:30.61 with Italy’s Nadia Battocletti finishing fourth with a national record of 14:31.64.
The race was billed as the battle of the three fastest women in history over the distance with defending champion Hassan, reigning world champion Kipyegon and world record holder Tsegay going toe-to-toe.
Chebet delivered a well-measured run over the 12-and-a-half laps before a climactic conclusion with a sprint to the line against former world record-holder Kipyegon.
The two-time world medallist not only etched her name into the history books but sank the trio’s hopes of adding the 5,000m to their respective multiple gold medal attempts at these Games.
Chebet and Kipyegon were among the front runners along with Tsegay for the majority of the race with Hassan biding her time at the back before she moved up the field in the closing stages.
As the race entered the business end with two laps to go there was a bit of pushing and shoving between Kipyegon and Tsegay before the latter moved to the front.
But Tsegay’s run at the front was short-lived as Kipyegon made her move with 500m to go with Chebet in tow. Chebet pulled ahead with 50m to go racing across the line adding the Olympic gold to her silver and bronze from the world championships.
– olympics.com
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