5000m SHOWDOWN - Cheptegei 12:35.36 (WR) vs Bekele 12:37.35 (old WR) [side by side comparison]

On the 14th August 2020 Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda returned to Monaco, this time on the track for a Diamond League meeting. Fresh off of breaking the 5K road world record back in February he set his sights on the 16-year unbeaten 5000m track record set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2004. Given that he would normally have been trying to peak for the Olympics around now, it was no surprise to see the man in prime fitness on the night and boy did he deliver! Cheptegei smashed the world record by a full two seconds and still looked like he had more in the tank!

It should be noted that a couple factors were in his favour - there was a green light running around the side of the track at WR pace that constantly gave Cheptegei a clue as to whether he was on pace or not, moreover he was rocking the latest in Nike's arsenal of shoe technology, the Nike Dragonfly. However the weather was less than ideal with temperatures in excess of 79F (compared to the more optimal ~60F for Bekele's run in Hengelo.)

Lap splits for Bekele are taken directly from the video, the lap splits for Joshua Cheptegei are taken from this letsrun article: https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/08/joshua-cheptegei-runs-1235-36-to-break-5000-meter-world-record-in-monaco/. Note that the first few lap splits are taken from the leading pacemaker and not the main men themselves, though there shouldn't be a big difference in the differential.

Видео 5000m SHOWDOWN - Cheptegei 12:35.36 (WR) vs Bekele 12:37.35 (old WR) [side by side comparison] канала The Lapras Man