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Letesenbet Gidey (left) and Joshua Cheptegei
Photo: JOSE JORDAN / AFP
Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey crowned the athletics meeting in Valencia with outstanding running world records at the end of an unusual Corona season.
The 24-year-old Cheptegei won the 10,000 meter race on Wednesday evening in a sensational 26: 11.00 minutes and was more than six seconds below the 15-year-old world record set by the Ethiopian running legend Kenenisa Bekele.
Cheptegei is now only the tenth runner in athletics history to hold the world records over 5000 and 10,000 meters.
He had set the record of 5000 meters less than two months ago.
Gidey erased the 5000 meter world record of her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba: The 22-year-old ran in 14: 06.62 minutes - almost five seconds faster than Dibaba eleven years ago.
The three-time Olympic champion from Ethiopia ran 14: 11.15 in Oslo in 2008.
Gidey originally started out in cross country, where she won five world titles.
In 2019 she finished second over 10,000 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
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