Cheptegei run every 100m in 15 seconds

Kenenisa Bekele was such an exceptional long-distance athlete.

Before that historic Friday night in Monaco, the three-time Olympic champion had held both the 5,000m and 10,000m world records.

And the fact is if an athlete was ever going to defy the Ethiopian's indomitable record in either race, they would have to achieve that outstandingly.

But, that's precisely what Joshua Cheptegei did at the Stade Louis II during the Monaco Diamond League -the first regular top-flight international athletics competition since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an athletic spectacle of historic proportions, Cheptegei shaved almost two seconds off Bekele's 16-year-old world record time over the 5,000m as he clocked an astonishing 12 minutes 35.35 seconds.

To achieve the sport's milestone granted almost mythical status in world athletics, Cheptegei scripted incredible times along the way.

To set the new mark, he ran an average time of 61 seconds per lap (400m), 30.5 seconds per 200m, and 15.25 seconds over 100m. It means his 100m pace was replicated 49 times in the 12 laps.

Retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt set the 100m world record at 9.58 seconds -six seconds shy of Cheptegei's time.