It is no doubt that Kenya is a powerhouse in athletics, and in every global showpiece, a star from the country is surely going to be born.
Be it in the Olympic Games, World Majors, or World Championships, Kenya will always produce top talents to compete in those competitions, and on many occasions, the athletes have not only broken records but claimed top honours.
This was no different in the 2024 Olympic Games as a Kenyan, Beatrice Chebet, conquered and lifted two golds in disciplines that saw top stars compete.
The Smiling Assasin, as Chebet is famously known in athletic circles, won golds in both 5000m and 10,000 metres beating Faith Kipyegon and other global superstars.
Going to the Paris Games, Chebet, twice a world medallist in 5000m and a world record holder in 10000m, was keen to add an Olympic title to her closet, and surely she did with class and top-level performance.
She is also a double world cross-country champion and world champion over 5km on the roads, and after the conclusion of the Games in France, she had two more glamorous and coveted gongs in her cabinet: gold medals in 5000m and in 10000m.
Olympic glory
She earned her first senior global track title in 5000m when she beat Kipyegon to win in 14:28.56, claiming Kenya’s first gold medal in Paris. Kipyegon was the pre-race favourite and a world 5000m champion, but Chebet outshone her to claim gold.
The field included elite rivals, including Sifan Hassan, the Olympic defending champion from the Netherlands; world record holder Gudaf Tsegay from Ethiopia; and Nadia Battocletti, Italian, who is the European champion.
With odds on Kipyegon to win the race, the superstar was a strong contestant in the first few kilometres with Chebet and Margaret Chelimo right behind her.
With the race progressing at a conservative speed, Chebet was trailing as Karoline Grovdal from Norway took the lead, with Battocletti second, Chelimo and Francine Niyomukunzi, Kipyegon, and Tsegay chasing, closing from behind.
Kipyegon kept a commanding lead with eight athletes giving her a run for her money, and at this time Chebet was no real challenger. Kipyegon kept leading, and after a few moments, Chebet managed to close in and kept up with the pace.
Finally, Chebet finally overtook her compatriot and fierce challenger with about 80m remaining. Chebet then increased pace, which Kipyegon, now but surely relinquishing the lead, could not keep up with, and eventually won gold in 14:26.17.
With the 5000m gold secured, Chebet, who early this year managed to become the first woman to break 29 minutes for 10,000m with her world record of 28:54.14, set her eyes on the next challenge: the 10000m.
10K metres battle
She completed her double at the Olympics by winning the race four days after winning her debut golden trophy at the Olympics.
The win in the women’s 10000m achieved in 30:43.25 made Chebet the first Kenyan woman to win Olympic 10000m gold and only the third woman after Tirunesh Dibaba and Hassan to win the 5000m and 10000m double at the Olympic Games.
She also became the first to win 5000m and 10000m Olympic titles in addition to the world cross-country title and the 10000m world record.
What a record!
In the race, Chebet faced the top rivals she battled earlier: defending champion Hassan, 5000m world record-holder Tsegay, and Battocletti.
This was a tight race, as over 10 athletes were closely challenging each other with just eight laps remaining. Tsigie Gebreselama of Ethiopia took the lead shortly after, as Chebet, Margaret Kipkemboi, Lilian Kasait, Fotyen Tesfay, Tsegay, Sarah Chelang’at, and Battocletti were all but relentlessly pursuing the lead.
With two laps to go, Kipkemboi looked poised to win, but before the bell rang, Kasait stepped forward to challenge her as Battocletti and Hassan kept making ambitious surges.
However, with about 200m remaining, Chebet tactically beat Kipkemboi, and her strong kicks earned her glory in the 10000m. This was Kenya’s second gold, although Chebet’s time was the slowest winning time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, according to World Athletics.
Career hopes
After her achievement in Paris, Chebet said that was just the beginning, as she looks forward to even more medals before she hangs her boot.
“I always have faith in myself. I had never won a track title. But after breaking the 10,000m world record in Eugene at the Kenyan Trials for the Olympics, I felt unusually strong and motivated.
“That’s when I decided, ‘I want to double in Paris,'” she told Olympics.com.
After elevating herself in Paris, Chebet will surely be one of the stars to be watched and highly scrutinised in the 2025 season. As usual, she is expected to participate in world majors and the World Athletics Championships set to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in September next year.
