World Athletics has officially ratified groundbreaking world records set by Beatrice Chebet, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Toshikazu Yamanishi, and Mondo Duplantis in a remarkable start to the year.
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet made history on New Year’s Eve, becoming the first woman to break 14 minutes over 5km in any setting.
Her blistering 13:54 run at Barcelona’s Cursa dels Nassos shattered the previous record by 19 seconds.
“I felt capable of running under 14, and I managed to do so,” said Chebet, the reigning Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion. She now sets her sights on gold at this year’s World Championships in Tokyo.
At the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in February, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen delivered an unforgettable display by setting two world short track records in one race.
He first passed through 1500m in 3:29.63, breaking his own record from 2022. He then crossed the mile finish line in a stunning 3:45.14, surpassing Yared Nuguse’s record set just days earlier. “It feels amazing,” said the two-time Olympic gold medallist. “You have to be focused for the whole race.”
Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi rewrote the history books in Kobe with a 20km race walk time of 1:16:10, shaving 26 seconds off the previous mark set by Yusuke Suzuki in 2015.
The two-time world champion expressed gratitude to his supporters, saying, “With my performance today, I was able to express my appreciation to everyone who stood by me during my struggles.”
Swedish pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis cleared 6.27m in Clermont-Ferrand in February, setting his 11th career world record and improving on his own 6.26m mark from August 2024.
The Olympic and world champion achieved the feat on his first attempt, further cementing his legacy in the sport.
