The reigning Africa 5000m champion, Medina Eisa Kumanda , wrote her name in the history books, when she ran the fastest time ever by an U-20 athlete on New Year’s Eve at the Cursa Dels Nassos in Barcelona, Spain.
Kumanda who is a double World U-20 5000m champion, became the first U-20 woman athlete in the World to run 14:23, when she finished in second place behind the first woman in history, to run under the 14-minute barrier for the distance on any surface, Beatrice Chebet, who smashed the world women 5km record in 13:54.
Chebet improved on the previous world record by 19 seconds, bettering the time run by Agnes Ngetich in January 2024. The holder’s 5K performance also bested the world record on the track (14:00.21 run by Gudaf Tsegay in 2023).
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The 24 year-old who was paced by Latvia’s Dmitrijs Sergonjins, brought the two-time world cross-country champion through the 3K split in 8:24.
The double Olympic champion, sped up over the last 2km with a 2:44 and 2:46, respectively, to close out the race in 13:54, which also made her come within 26 seconds of the men’s winner, Matthew Kipruto.