Cheptegei smashes 5,000m record

MONACO • Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei spent much of his coronavirus-induced lockdown painting a primary school and helping out in his grandparents' vegetable patch in his homeland.

But an easing of restrictions by the Ugandan government in June meant he could get serious with his training and, on Friday, he showed how successful that had been.

Metronomic pacing and perfect conditions at the Stade Louis II saw the 23-year-old light up the Monaco Diamond League, the first regular top-flight international one-day meet since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He wiped almost two seconds off Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele's 16-year-old world record over the 5,000m, clocking an astonishing 12min 35.35sec.

"I've learnt that anything is possible, if you have the right mindset," said Cheptegei, who spurned his usual European base for his home in Kapchorwa for the lockdown.

"It took a lot of mind-setting to keep being motivated because so many people are staying at home, but you have to stay motivated.

"I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach. I'm also usually based in Europe, but being based in Uganda with my family was actually great."

Remarkably, Friday's outing was his first competitive appearance since February, when he smashed the world 5km road record, also in Monaco.

Those two world records in a coronavirus-hit season followed an outstanding 2019 when he secured not only the world cross-country title in Denmark, but also the world 10,000m title at the Doha world championships.

He took more than 22 seconds off his personal best as he averaged 61-second laps over the 5,000m, staged in front of a masked crowd limited to 5,000 because of virus-related health and safety restrictions.

"I did some gardening at my grandparents' house," added Cheptegei.

"Mainly, I worked at my school in town. It's a primary school, and I worked on renovations there, like painting the walls. But I honestly really missed competing. It's something I love doing, it's in my blood."

Following exhibition events in Oslo and Zurich in June and July, the Monaco Diamond League marked the start of the competitive season.

Meets in Eugene, London, Paris, Rabat, Gateshead and Shanghai have all been cancelled because of the pandemic.

In the women's 5,000m, world champion Hellen Obiri won in 14:18.37.

Timothy Cheruiyot was another world champion who showed no signs of suffering from disrupted training as he clinched the men's 1,500m in 3:28.45.

It was a family double in the 200m as Noah Lyles won in 19.76sec, with his younger brother Josephus second in 20.30.

Raising a black-gloved fist to the air when introduced to the crowd, the win was the perfect tonic for Lyles, who has admitted to having psychological problems worsened by the "perfect storm" of Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter movement and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics at which he was hotly tipped for success.

"It's a lot better to be out here competing instead of being in your backyard," he said. "I have high expectations for myself, so I'd say the race got the Noah stamp of approval but not the Noah satisfaction stamp!"

Karsten Warholm finished strongly to win the 400m hurdles in 47.10sec, beating Kevin Young's 28-year-old meet record, while Faith Kipyegon ran the second fastest-ever 1,000m, clocking 2:29.15.

Ajla del Ponte looked as surprised as everyone else when she took the women's 100m in 11.16sec, with favourite Marie-Josee Ta Lou a sluggish fourth in 11.39.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS