Trailblazing Chebet rewriting records on the track
Chebet is rewriting history on global athletics tracks.
1mon agoHillary BettInfographics
Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet will step away from her long-distance specialities to contest the 1,500m at this weekend’s Silesia Diamond League, where she will face a stern test from Ethiopians Gudaf Tsegay and Diribe Welteji.
Chebet has spent the past two seasons rewriting distance-running history.
In May 2024, she demolished the women’s 10,000m world record at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 28:54.14 to become the first woman ever to dip under 29 minutes.
She carried that blistering form to the Paris Olympics, claiming a historic double with gold in the 5,000m (14:28.56) and 10,000m (30:43.25).
The 2025 season has been no different.
In July, she shattered the 5,000m world record at the Prefontaine Classic, stopping the clock at 13:58.06 to become the first woman to run under 14 minutes over 12 and a half laps and snatching the mark from Tsegay, who held the previous mark of 14:00.21.
However, the 1,500m is unfamiliar territory on the global stage for the Kenyan star.
Chebet has raced in a couple of 1,500m races locally, with her first coming in 2019 at an Athletics Kenya meet in Mumias, where she ran 4:23.2.
She later won the 2023 national championships in 4:06.56, before finishing fifth at the World Championships trials for Budapest in 4:10.17.
This year’s Diamond League has already seen Chebet stretch her range.
She opened her campaign in Xiamen in April with a 14:27.12 victory over 5,000m and smashed the African 3,000m record in Rabat with 8:11.56, the second-fastest time in history, just five seconds shy of Junxia Wang’s world record of 8:06.11 from 1993.
She followed up with a 14:03.69 win at the Rome Golden Gala before her record-breaking run in Eugene.
Her most recent outing came at the Kenyan World Championships trials on July 22, where she placed third in the 10,000m (30:27.52) behind Janeth Chepng'etich (30:27.02) and Agnes Ng'etich (30:27.38).
After her performance at the trials, Chebet relayed the team's intent for success in Tokyo over the 25-lap race.
“It was amazing running with Agnes and Janeth. We already feel like a team ready to conquer Tokyo," she said.
In Silesia, Chebet will face one of the most prominent names in middle-distance running.
Tsegay, the third-fastest woman ever over 1,500m, began her 2025 season by clinching the World Indoor title in Nanjing, clocking 3:58.86.
The Ethiopian extended her blistering form over the 1,500m distance at the Zagreb meeting in May, winning in 3:58.14.
Tsegay is joined by compatriot Welteji — the 2018 World U-20 800m champion — who has been in dazzling form over 1,500m this season.
She boasts wins from the Kingston (4:04.51) and Philadelphia (3:58.04) Grand Slams and a runner-up finish from the Prefontaine Classic (3:51.44).
Britain’s Georgia Bell, American Nikki Hiltz and Ireland’s Sarah Healy complete a stacked field.
