Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet delivered a commanding performance at the fifth leg of the Diamond League in Rome on Friday night, storming to victory in the womenโs 5000m with a world-leading, meet record, and Kenyan national record time of 14:03.69.
Chebet, a double world record holder, ran a peerless race, leaving the field behind in what was arguably one of the standout performances of the season.
Ethiopiaโs Freweyni Hailu finished second with a personal best of 14:19.33, while Italyโs Nadia Battocletti delighted the home crowd by taking third in a national record time of 14:23.15.
Remarkably, Chebet had downplayed any record-breaking ambitions before the race, saying she simply wanted to enjoy the competition.
Her triumph in Rome comes just two weeks after another exceptional outing in Rabat, where she narrowly missed the world record in the 3000m.
Chebet clocked 8:11.56 to win the race โ just six seconds shy of the 8:06.11 world record set by Chinaโs Wang Junxia in 1993.
