Newly-crowned world 10km and 5km record holder Agnes Ng'etch dedicated her record to her mother Veronica Cheruto and coach Ruth Bundotich.
Ngetich broke the 5km world record time clocking 14:25 before finishing the race in another record of 29:24 during the 10km at the Brasov Running Festival in Romania a week ago.
During a 'world record party' in Iten, Ngetich said her mother, coach Ruth Bundotich and her management team played a critical role in her success.
“My mother and coach have been pillars in my career and that is why I am dedicating my world record to them,” said Ngetich who broke the previous 10k record of 30:01 set by the late Agnes Tirop at the Roads to Records in Germany in 2021.
Ngetich said she has had an impressive season, which started with a bronze medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, in February, finished sixth in the 5,000 final at the World Championships in Budapest before summing it up with the double records.
“I must admit that I had a good start to the season and ended it on a high. I started with the world cross country, winning a bronze, went to Budapest for the World Championships and finished sixth and closing the season with a world record. This was good,” said the two-time East Africa 1,500m and 3,000m champion.
She reiterated that going to the race, she expected a personal best of 30:01 or 30:02 or a course record but ended up with a surprise world record.
“For anybody who cheered me from across the world, I thank God for that milestone I achieved. The race was not that tough so I wanted to do something else,” she said.
Bundotich said she has been Ngetich's 'mother in sports' since she was in Class 7, aged 12.
“I found her when she was 12 years old during school games when she lost the 5,000m title after a fall while in the lead. I went and picked her up. Since then, she has been living in my home and now she is in another class,” said the coach.
