Ethiopian Gidey breaks 10,000m world record

Hengelo: Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey clocked 29 minutes 01.3 seconds to break the women's 10,000-metre world record by five seconds during the Ethiopian athletics trials here on Tuesday night. "I expected to run a world record. I would like to try to break the 29-minute [barrier] in 10,000m in future," the 23 years old said in the post-race interaction. Last year, Letesenbet set a world 5000m record of 14 minutes 06.62 seconds. The Ethiopian is the first woman to hold both the 5000m and 10,000m world records since Norway's Ingrid Kristiansen who held both the records from 1986 to 1993.

On Sunday, Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan had clocked a world 10,000m record of 29:06.82 on the same track in Hengelo. The Ethiopian Athletics Federation is holding national selection trials in the Netherlands to select a team for the Tokyo Olympic Games starting July 23.

Trials were held in distances ranging from 800m to 10,000m, including the steeplechase.

But the women's 10,000m race was the highlight of the selection trials. Letesenbet set out at scorching pace passing the first 2000m in 5 minutes 54 seconds and 3000m in 8 minutes 50 seconds. She reached the half-way mark in about 14 minutes and 42 seconds.

She pushed the pace further in the next five laps to clock 20 minutes 32 seconds for 7000m. At the bell, she was a couple of seconds inside 28 minutes, and ran a final lap of about 68 seconds to set a world record of 29 minutes 01.03 seconds. Tsigie Gebreselama, who clocked 30 minutes 06.01 seconds, was second while Tsehay Gemechu was third in 30 minutes 19.29 seconds. The women's 5,000m was won by Gudaf Tsegay in 14 minutes 13.32 seconds.

Steeplechase specialist Getnet Wale won the men's 5,000m event in 12:53.28 while Selemon Barega won a close men's 10,000m, clocking 26 minutes 49.51 seconds against 26 minutes 49.73 seconds by Yomif Kejelcha. Freweyni Hailu won the women's 1500m in a world-leading time of 3 minutes 57.33 seconds.