Beatrice Chebet: Double Olympic Champion Storms to Easy Win in Rabat Diamond League
- Beatrice Chebet ran the fastest time in over 30 years in the women's 3,000m race at the Rabat Diamond League
- Chebet obliterated the rest of the field to finish more than 15 seconds ahead of the second-placed Nadia Battocleti
- The 25-year-old won two Olympic gold medals at the Paris Games last year in the women's 5,000m and 10,000m
Beatrice Chebet coasted to an easy win in the women's 3,000m at the Rabat Diamond League on Sunday evening, May 25.
Source: Getty Images
Beatrice Chebet sets new meeting record
The double Olympic champion was in a league of her own as she destroyed her competitors to continue the most consequential period of her glorious career.
Chebet set a time of 8:11:56 to set a new meeting record, breaking the previous record held by Ethiopia's Ayana Almaz of 8:22.22 set in 2015. Her time is also now the second-fastest of all time behind Junxia Waang's 8:06.11 set in 1993.
The 25-year-old broke ranks early on, with no other competition having the gas to go toe-to-toe with her. She made easy work of the unconventional race, reducing it to a race between her and the lights.
So good was Chebet's run that the second finisher, Italy's Nadia Battocleti, came in 15 seconds later with a time of 8:26:27. Ireland's Sarah Healy was third with 8:27:02.
Speaking after the race, Chebet insisted she wasn't going after the world record, but wanted to improve her previous personal best.
"I’m incredibly happy. I wasn’t aiming for a world record; I just wanted to run a personal best, and that’s exactly what I did. I know that if I keep believing in myself, the world record will come, maybe in a few months or even years. It is just a matter of time, and I don’t want to rush it.
"After a few laps, I realized I was running alone, but I kept pushing to show what I’m capable of. I really enjoy this distance. It is nothing like the 5,000 or 10,000 metres. It feels completely different, and it turns out I’m good at it."
Source: Getty Images
What next for Beatrice Chebet?
Chebet will now head to Eugene, Oregon, where she will compete in her favourite 10,000m. The last time she competed at the Hayward Field in Oregon, she set the current world record.
Omanyala second in Rabat as Wanyonyi finishes third
Elsewhere, Ferdinand Omanyala was second in the men's 100m behind Akani Simbine. Omanyala was fresh from setting a new African record in the 150m at the Atlanta City Games.
The fastest man in Africa ran a time of 10.05 seconds behind Simbine's 9.95.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi was third in the men's 800m as Tshepiso Masalela won his second successive Diamond League race.
The Botswana athlete set a new meeting record to take down the Olympic champion.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
