After moving up to second place on the all-time 5,000m list, double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet now hopes to become the first woman to dip under 14 minutes.
At the Rome Diamond League, Chebet produced a masterclass performance, storming to a dominant 14:03.69 finish.
The mark catapulted her past compatriot and three-time Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon, who holds 14:05.20 from Paris in 2023.
Only Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay has run faster, 14:00.21 at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
In Rome, Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu finished a distant second in a personal best of 14:19.33 while home girl Nadia Battocletti thrilled the crowd with a national record of 14:23.15 at third.
"My target was to run 14:15, but after running a new personal best and setting a meeting record, I am so impressed," she said.
"I now see the world record is within reach. I am going to plan for it. I am going for the sub-14-minute run very soon....not very far."
With her trademark composed aggression, Chebet took control after the pacemaker dropped out at 2,000m, gradually cranking up the pace in a relentless solo charge to the finish.
"I just decided to run my own race because I feel my body is in good shape. I have to see how far I can go when I push alone," she said.
"The pace maker dropped after 2,000m, so I decided to push to see what I am capable of. I pushed the field so I can say I helped them a lot to achieve their personal bests and others achieve national records like Nadia."
"It makes me happy to see everyone achieving good performances here in Rome," she noted.
Chebet is in the right shape this year.
"After running the 3,000m in Rabat and coming to Rome and running 14:03, yet I had planned for 14:15, I believe my body is in the right shape," Chebet noted.
The Rome result followed her stellar 3,000m run in Rabat on May 25, where she clocked 8:11.56 — the second-fastest time, behind China's Wang Junxia (8:06.11) from 1993.
That race also saw Battocletti (8:26.27) and Ireland’s Sarah Healy (8:27.02) set personal bests.
Chebet kicked off her 2025 track campaign with a 5,000m race at the Xiamen meeting on April 26, stopping the clock in 14:27.12.
She led Tsegay (14:28.18) and Birke Haylom (14:28.80) home.
