Ethiopian Gidey smashes women's 5,000 metres world record

“I dreamed about this record for six years. I want to thank Valencia for giving me this chance.” - Letesenbet Gidey [Photo: Reuters]

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey demolished the women's 5,000 metres world record by more than four seconds on Wednesday at the Valencia World Record Day, crossing the line in 14 minutes 6.62 seconds.

Gidey, 22, easily beat the previous record of 14:11.15 set by her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in Oslo in 2008.

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei made history on Wednesday night after breaking Kenenisa Bekele’s 10,000 metres world record.

Cheptegei smashed the World Record clocking a sensational 26 minutes 11.02 seconds at the Valencia World Record Day.

Letesenbet Gidey in numbers.

2019 Arhus - bronze
2019 Doha - silver
2020 Valencia - WR

Now that's growth???? pic.twitter.com/1a1y6C8Rag — World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 7, 2020