Joshua Cheptegei shatters 5K world record by 27 seconds

Joshua Cheptegei 0f Uganda shattered the 5K world record by 27 seconds on Sunday morning in Monaco, running a 12:51. The runner broke the record set by Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto only one month ago en route to his 10K world record.

Ugandan ?? @JoshuaCheptege1 begins 2020 by breaking the 5K world record at the @MonacoRun in France ??. He did it in a time of 12:49. Previous WR mark was at 13:29. The year’s ultimate goal is @Tokyo2020 Olympics. ??? pic.twitter.com/U9s2fgdmsn

— Darren Allan Kyeyune (@AllanDarren) February 16, 2020

RELATED: Kipruto beats 5K world record en route to 10K world record in Valencia

On January 12, Kipruto set a new 10K world record, but his first 5K, which he ran in 13:18, was also technically a record-breaking mark. The Adidas athlete closed even faster, negative splitting the race to finish in 13:06 (although World Athletics said that time wasn’t ineligible for ratification). The previous 5K world record was held by Robert Keter at 13:22.

The 5K only became an official world record in November 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJruWcczuBo&feature=youtu.be

Cheptegei’s time from Monaco is so fast it seems unreal. For some perspective, in 2019 no one ran faster on the track (12:52.98 was the best mark). The world record in the 5,000m is 12:37.35 held by Kenenisa Bekele, a time that was once unfathomably fast but could easily be broken by Cheptegei in the coming months.

RELATED: Kipchoge vs. Bekele: Who comes out on top? 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3TVAXzn-fE/

The runner told World Athletics post-race, “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.”

Second place went to France’s Jimmy Gressier in 13:18, a new European record, and third place to Nick Goolab who broke Mo Farah’s British record, running 13:27.