Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey set a new women’s 5,000m world record of 14 minutes 6.62 seconds in Valencia on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old lowered the previous mark of 14min 11.15 held by her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba since 2008 by over four seconds.
Gidey put up the run of her short career a year after taking 10,000m silver at the world athletics championships in Doha.
With two pacemakers helping her record bid until the 3,000m marker Gidey maintained a ferocious pace to etch her name in athletics’ record books.
The performance of the double junior world cross country champion will reignite the debate over the carbon-plated Nike Vaporfly shoes she uses that have revolutionised road running.
-AFP