PARIS, France, Aug 6 – Beatrice Chebet finally grabbed her first gold in a major championship after scooping the women’s 5000m title at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The gold was not only Chebet’s first but also opened Kenya’s medal account after missing out in the men’s 20km race walk and men’s 10,000m.
In a loaded and dramatic 5000m final, Chebet outsprinted pre-race favourite, world champion Faith Kipyeon with 400 metres to the finish line, winning in 14:28.56.
However, controversy followed there after following Kipyegon’s disqualification for obstruction over her tussle with world record holder Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay.
But the Kenyan management lodged a successful appeal to see Kipyegon’s silver (14:29.60) reinstated while defending champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands contented with bronze (14:30.61).
Margaret Chelimo, the other Kenyan in the race finished 4th and was full of praise for both Beatrice and Kipyegon.
“Though I did not win a medal, I am happy for Chebet and Faith. It was a good race, Kenya winning Gold and Silver is big than anything else,” said the Oregon World Championships bronze medalist.
Speaking after the race, Chebet said her patience finally paid off after taking silver in 2022 Oregon and 2023 bronze at the Budapest World Championships.
“I am so happy because this is the first medal for our country here at Paris Olympics and being an Olympic champion is something special for me,” Chebet said.
She added, “I knew Faith is very strong, so I had to go hard from 400 metres out. I just tried myself. When she pushed, I thought, ‘Let me follow her and see if I can secure second’. If I followed Faith, I thought I would get the silver.
“Then at 400 metres to go, I felt strong, so I pushed, then kicked again at 300 metres. Luckily, I was able to win,” Chebet said.
On what’s changed since the last two championships when she took silver and bronze, she said, “I think it’s the training. I came to realise that most of the championships people run hard for the last kilometer, So I went back and adjusted my training.”
Beatrice will now shift attention to the 10,000m where she will be banking on her world record status over the distance to reign supreme.
“My focus was on the 10,000m. For the 5000m I was just going for a podium finish since I knew Faith was strong than me.”