History makers: Chebet, Kipyegon dazzle in Oregon with world records
Kenyans Beatrice Chebet (left) Faith Kipyegon celebrate after winning their respective races in world record times during the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field July 5, 2025.
What you need to know:
- Double Olympics champion Beatrice Chebet becomes the first woman to run women’s 5,000m race in under 14 minutes.
- In the 1,500m race, Kipyegon again delivered a commanding performance to win the race in three minutes, 48.68 seconds.
In Oregon
Three-time Olympics 1,500 metres champion, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, showed why she is one of the best athletes globally, employing searing pace to scorch her opponents on her way to breaking her own world record on Saturday in Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Oregon.
At the same time, double Olympics champion Beatrice Chebet lived true to her promise of a world record, blowing away a quality field to deliver a new world record of 13:58.06 in women’s 5,000m.
In breaking the old record of 14:00.21 by Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay on the same course in 2023, Chebet becomes the first woman to run women’s 5,000m race in under 14 minutes. Her time is both a meet record, and Diamond League record.
Beatrice Chebet of Kenya celebrates winning the women's 5,000m race in a world record 13:58.06 during the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field on July 5, 2025.
Chebet also made history at Hayward Field track in 2024 over 10,000m where she became the first woman to run the distance in under 28 minutes before going ahead to win double gold medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in the 5,000m and 10,000m races.
In women’s 1,500m race, Kipyegon, who won gold in the distance at the 2016 (Rio de Janeiro), 2020 (Tokyo) and 2024 (Paris) Olympic Games, again delivered a commanding performance to win the race in three minutes, 48.68 seconds at the University’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
Faith Kipyegon of Kenya reacts after winning the women's 1,500m race in a world record time of 3:48.68 during the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field on July 5, 2025.
The 31-year-old runner, who is based at Kaptagat in Nandi County, broke her own record of 3:49.09 which she recorded at the 2024 Paris Diamond League just days before the Olympic Games.
Afterwards, she heaped glowing praise on her coach Patrick Sang for bringing out the best in her during training, adding that she was encouraged to attempt the record after her compatriot Chebet had won her race in a world record time.
“This is really special for me and my team, including my coach Sang. After taking part in the ‘Breaking4' Project in Paris, I had to try and run faster today because of the conducive weather here (in Oregon), and also the track here has been associated with fast times,” she said.
If there were any doubts of her abilities in the race, coming less than two weeks after her attempt to become the first woman to run the mile in under four minutes on June 26, those fears quickly dissipated when Kipyegon left everyone in the race in her wake with 200 metres to go to win.
Kipyegon said she had been encouraged to do well by Chebet’s record-breaking run moments earlier.
“When Chebet became the first woman to run the 5000m in less than 14 minutes, it really inspired me to run my own race in a better way. Above all, self-discipline has always been my secret, that is why I have been running since I was 15 years old,” she said.
Ethiopia’s Diribe Weleteji came second in the race in 3:51.44, followed by Australia’s Jessica Hull finishing third in 3:52.67.
Kipyegon will now return home and spend time with her family as she prepares for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where she plans to run both the 1,500m and 5,000m.