Ugandan Cheptegei falls short of 3000m world record

Ugandan Cheptegei misses 3000m world record

JOHANNESBURG, May 20 (ANA) – Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei failed to add a fifth world record to his list of achievements in the men’s 3000m at the Golden Spike in Ostrava, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old may have been unable to better the long-standing record set by Kenyan Daniel Komen of 7:20.67 way back in 1996, but Cheptegei still managed victory on the night and the fastest time in the event this year.

Cheptegei set off on pace and passed 1000m in 2:26. He followed his second pacemaker Stewart McSweyn through the next two laps before being left alone to hit 2000m in 4:56.19. But with the world record then slipping out of reach, Cheptegei didn’t need to empty his tank thereafter but he maintained a decent pace to again stamp his supremacy over some world-class rivals.

His 7:33.24 was a world lead and personal best, with the USA’s Paul Chelimo a distant second in 7:41.69.

“It was kind of a speed test for me,” said Cheptegei, who added that his next stop is the Golden Gala in Florence on 10 June, where he will race over 5000m.

There, he will renew his rivalry with compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, who produced the performance of the meeting on the track four hours earlier. The world half marathon champion put on an exhibition in the 10,000m, moving to seventh on the all-time list with his time of 26:33.93.

The 20-year-old Ugandan coasted behind the pacemakers until 5000m, reached in 13:27.43, then shifted through the gears over the latter half, which he ran entirely alone in a blazing 13:06 to carve almost a minute off his previous best, which dated back to the 2016 World U20 Championships. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman