China congratulates Cheptegei on breaking world record

The Chinese ambassador to Uganda, Zheng ZhuQuiang, has congratulated Joshua Cheptegei upon breaking the 10,000 meters world record. 

Cheptegei took part in the NN World Record Day run in Valencia, where he broke the global record, clocking 26:11:00.

"Two world records! Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei broke the men's 10000m World record with an astonishing 26:11.02 in Valencia, Spain on Wednesday, October 3," Zheng posted on Twitter. "Congratulations, congratulations, congratulation," he added.

Yesterday (October 7), Uganda's long-distance runner set a new world record in the 10,000 meters, breaking Kenenisa Bekele's record that the Ethiopian set in 2005 - 15 years ago.

Bekele's record, which he set on August 26, 2005, at the 29th Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels, Belgium, stood at 26:17.53. Cheptegei's new record stands at 26:11:02.

This is the fourth race in which Cheptegei has broken a world record. He started with the 15km world record in 2018, then the 10km world record in Valencia in 2019. This year, he first broke the 5,000m record in Monaco, France, before he broke the 10,000m record in Valencia yesterday.