Uganda’s Cheptegei surprise 5km world record

Uganda's Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei celebrates taking silver after the men's 10,000m athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 4, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei broke the 5km road world record in Monaco over the weekend.

The 10,000m world champion beat the existing world record by shaving 27 seconds off the recent record set by Kenyan runner Rhonex Kipruto.

Cheptegei surprised many Betway punters after crossing the finish line in 12 minutes and 51 seconds in his first race this year to block Kipruto’s effort in last months’ race in Spain.

According to the 23-year-old Ugandan, he had a sub-13-minute finish in his mind and decided to go for it when his legs felt good during the race.

He further went ahead to express his happiness after shaving many seconds off the record in his first great test in the season.

“Wow, this is a really great. I had sub 13 minutes in my mind today so when my legs felt good during the race I decided to really go for it.

"To take this many seconds off the record makes me very happy and is a great first test for me in an important season,” Cheptegei told World Athletics after the race.

Cheptegei broke the record while wearing the Nike Vaporfly shoe. Earlier this year, World Athletics heightened the regulations around the development of prototype shoes, though they fell short of issuing a ban on the already existing Nike shoes.

According to World Athletics the shoe has been available for a considerable period of time.

The four fastest official men’s marathons in history, and seven of the top 10, have been set in the last 18 months by Nike-sponsored athletes wearing the shoes described as “ludicrous” by the Australian marathon legend Rob de Castella.

Nonetheless, Nike shoes have proven to be of great value to athletes, just like Betway betgames have been to punters looking for entertainment.

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge was wearing a modified version of the controversial Nike Vaporfly during his decided sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna last October, although it didn’t count as an official record.

New regulations bar the use of the modified version of the shoe, and restricted the thickness of the sole to 40mm. An athlete can also be asked to hand over their shoes for testing immediately after a race if it arouses suspicion.

Studies have shown shoes contribute to improved performance of the athlete.

Journal Sports Medicine published an article of a 2017 study conducted by the University of Colorado on 18 high-caliber athletes, which showed the shoes lower the energetic cost of running by 4 percent compared to two different types of marathon racing shoes.

In December, the New York Times published an analysis of over 1 million marathon and half-marathon buff times since 2014, of athletes of all levels, finding that changing to the shoe gave a runner a ‘’ notable advantage over their competitor (of the same ability) not wearing the shoes.’’

In its 2019 review, Strava – the global social network for athletes, said that the mean marathon finish time for runners in the Vaporfly model Next% was 8.7 months faster than that of their competitors wearing the second-fastest shoe, the Adidas Boston.

Joshua recently broke the 10km road world record with a record time of 26:38, beating a record that stood for almost a decade, before that was broken in January by Kipruto, who broke both the 5km and 10 km records in Valencia. However, the new record is yet to be officially ratified by World Athletics, with Kipruto’s January record still subject to ratification.

Moreover, Cheptegei is the reigning world 10,000m champion after claiming victory in Doha last year.