Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei smashes the 10,000m world record in a time of 26 minutes 11.00 seconds in Valencia, beating Kenenisa Bekele's 15-year-old time by more than six seconds.

Watch Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey set a new women's 5,000m world record of 14 minutes 6.62 seconds in Valencia on Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images/EPA

The NN Valencia World Record Day is a one-off event taking place in Valencia, Spain.

Elite athletes from around the world will come together at the Turia Stadium to try and break some of the sport's most challenging track and field records.

Among the stars taking part is Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei, who will attempt to break Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele's 15-year-old men’s 10,000m world record, which stands at 26 minutes 17.53 seconds.

In the women’s field, Ethiopian long-distance runner Letesenbet Gidey will target a new women’s 5,000m world record.

The current time of 14 minutes 11.15 seconds is held by Gidey’s compatriot, three-time Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba.

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei has broken two world records already this year and now has his sights on a third when he attempts to break Kenenisa Bekele's 10,000m track record in Valencia’s Turia Stadium on Wednesday.

“It now looks like with Covid-19 you can’t win a medal and you can’t race in a championship this year so the best thing is to try to break the world record,” he said at the pre-meet press conference on Tuesday.

Cheptegei, 24, set a new world 5km road record in Monaco back in February before retreating to lockdown in his native Uganda. In August, he emerged and returned to Monaco, knocking almost two seconds off Kenenisa Bekele’s 16-year-old track record for the distance, setting a new mark of 12min 35.36secs.

“Covid presented an opportunity - the next goal is to try to break the 10,000m world record. There’s nothing better than to try crazy things this year.” He will have pacemakers and Wavelight timing technology helping him in his attempt.

The record he is attempting is another of Bekele’s long-standing marks, set in Brussels in August 2005. The time of 26min 17.53secs is a tough one, especially for Cheptegei, whose best time is more than half a minute slower that Bekele’s mark and only the 18th fastest ever run.

Image source, Getty Images

Assuming they can stay with what is expected to be a hot pace in Valencia, there are other runners who will be looking to set new marks of their own as Joshua Cheptegei makes his world record attempt.

Australian distance runner Stewart McSweyn is one of those, and he comes to Spain after recently setting a new Australian record for the 3,000m of 7min 28.02 secs in Rome.

Elsewhere, Kenyan-born Shadrack Kipchirchir, a two-time World Championship 10,000m finalist will be hoping to lower the 26:44.36 national record of the United States, the country whose nationality he took after discovering his talent for the track while studying engineering at college there.

Home interest will focus on Ouassim Oumaiz, who set a Spanish under-23 record of 13:13.14 for the 5,000m in Monaco recently, while Cheptegei’s training partner Stephen Kissa, another Ugandan will also be on the start list.

The field for the women’s 5,000m, which will also see a record attempt, is led by Ethiopia’s versatile Letesenbet Gidey, who has medals in World Cross Country (bronze) and World Championship 10,000m (silver) and who took more than a minute off the world 15km road record in Nijmegen last year.

Image source, BBC Sport

BBC athletics commentator Steve Cram – himself a formidable world record-setter in his day - believes the men’s 10,000m world record, set all of 15 years ago by Kenenisa Bekele, could change hands tonight in Valencia because of Joshua Cheptegei’s ability to reel off fast laps at will.

“I can see Cheptegei doing it – the weather’s been horrendous in Spain recently but it looks like it’s going to be okay then,” said Cram, who set world records for the 1500m, mile and 2,000m in the space of three weeks in 1985. “If the weather’s okay, then what he’s been doing for the last two years means he’s the man to do it – he’s metronomic in a way a way that Eliud [Kipchoge] is in the marathon.

“In a race where he’s just following the pace, he’s brilliant at that. He just keeps clicking the laps off. It’s a tough task – it’s a hell of a record – Kenenisa was at the height of his powers when he broke the record.

“You’re pretty much talking about almost close to two 5,000m races at 13 minutes but when you’ve just broken the world record at 5,000m, your buffer is much greater than for the vast majority. So I think he’s got a great chance – I think it’ll probably come down to the pacemaking.”

BBC Red Button

You can watch live coverage of the NN Valencia World Record Day on the BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer, plus the BBC Sport website and mobile app.

Wednesday, 7 October

20:45-21:45 – BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and mobile app.

BBC Sport

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