Kenyan athlete Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women’s 5000 metres world record on Friday at the Rome Diamond League when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay’s 1997 world mark of 14:00.21.
Chebet, who recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women’s 3000 metres – running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia’s 8:06.11 set in 1993 – appears determined to shave further seconds off her times.
“I can see that my body is in good shape and that I am capable of achieving the world record,” the 25-year-old said after the race.
“Now I am going home to prepare for it. Everything is possible.”
Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu finished in distant 2nd with a Personal Best (PB) of 14:19.33 while Nadia Battocletti of italy was 3rd in a time of 14:23.15.
Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight dominated the women’s 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women’s 200 metres in 22.53 seconds.
Irish Sarah Healey triumphed in the 1500 metres with a time of 3:59.17.
The men’s 110m hurdles produced the evening’s closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time.
There was also a nail-bitting race in the men’s 400 metres, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 seconds, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South Africa’s Zakithi Nene.
In the men’s 1500 metres, France’s Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75.