10,000m champion and 5,000m world record holder Joshua Cheptegei looks set to claim another record at the NN World Record Day on October 7th in Valencia, Spain.
Joshua Cheptegei took to his Twitter platform to announce his intent to claim another of Kenenisa Bekele’s world records with the 26:17:53 record set in Brussels 15 years ago for 10,000m at stake this time.
Joshua looks to capitalize on the form that saw him better the Ethiopian legend’s 5,000m record by close to 2-seconds in Monaco last month to mount a solid challenge in Valencia for a record that no athlete has managed to come within five seconds of in nearly two decades.
This, however, isn’t the long-distance runner’s first race in Valencia where he has fond memories having set the world 10km road record last year, 2019.
“Kenenisa’s 10,000m world record is one of the toughest in the books, but my training continues to go well and this gives me real confidence I can set another world record,” said a confident Cheptegei who has the backing of Bekele. “I was delighted that the record went to Joshua, one of my NN Running Teammates. He is an outstanding talent who is clearly in great form and I wish him all the best in pursuit of the 10,000m world record in Valencia,” Bekele told the World Athletics website.
There, however, is a lot of work still to be done but as you all know where there’s will there is a way hence Cheptegei will be utilizing world-class pace making support as well as the innovative Wavelight technology.
Trinidad Alfonso Foundation and Nationale-Nederlanden Spain, part of the NN Group, and other authorities that are trying to make this happen are in close contact with the local government in order to follow all the local and regional Covid-19 measurements to ensure the full safety of all those involved.
Cheptegei intends to make his debut over the 21.1km distance at the rescheduled World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on 17 October.
