World Record Day, an athletics event in Valencia, set new world records in the 10 and 5 kilometers on Wednesday. Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei only needed 26.11 minutes for the 10 kilometers, the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey reached the finish on the 5 kilometer after 14.06.
The stadium in Valencia, which is empty due to corona measures, uses Wavelight technology, which means that lights on the inside of the track indicate the pace of the world record. As a result, the athletes had a visual target for the peak time.
The 24-year-old Cheptegei was six seconds faster than the old world record set by the Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele in 2005. In December last year, Chaptegui also dipped below the world record in the 5 kilometers, but he did so on the disputed Nike Zoom Vaporfly shoes.
The 22-year-old Gidey ran more than four seconds below the old world record in the 5 kilometers. That was in the name of her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba with 14.11 and was run in Olso in 2008.
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