Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet’s during an interview at their home in Iten on October 16, 2024.
The imperious Beatrice Chebet was at it again on Tuesday, impressively running against the clock.
The 24-year-old Kenyan wonder girl smashed the women’s 5km world record at the Cursa dels Nassos road race in Barcelona.
She crossed the finish line in 13 minutes and 54 seconds to become the first woman to break the 14-minute barrier in the 5k.
In fact, the time was 19 seconds faster than the very world record she set in the same race a year ago.
“I’m so excited to have ended the year on a high note but that means there is a lot I need to accomplish in the new season. My plan now to build up gradually for the Tokyo World Championships where I will be looking forward to a top performance,” warned Chebet, the reigning women’s 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion, soon after her Barcelona exploits.
A double gold assault is no doubt in her mind as she looks to write more history in distance running by becoming only the third women to win 5,000m and 10,000m at the same world championship.
Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet’s cooks at her home in Iten on October 16, 2024.
Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba achieved that in 2005 in Helsinki and Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot matched that in 2011 in Daegu.
How did it all start for the rising force in women’s distance running?
Chebet started running while in Standard Four at Kapkoroch Primary School. She was good enough to compete at the national level.
Chebet’s grandmother Pauline Langat, who had noticed her talent, encouraged her 15-year-old grandchild to join Lemotit Athletics camp in Londiani, in 2015.
At that time she was a Form One student at Saramek Secondary School.
Her father, Francis Kirui, admits that he was reluctant to allow her second born of seven children to join the camp. “But her grandmother insisted, together with my wife and I had to accept,” Kirui confessed in an interview by Nation Sport for the “Making of Champion’s series on NTV.
Chebet shifted to Kericho in June 2021 as a senior under the guidance of coach Gabriel Kiptanui and would later move to Iten to join her fiancé – now her husband, Peter Bii who is also a her coach.
Joining Lemotit camp proved a turning point in her life as her level of running soared.
Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet’s father Francis Kirui during an interview at their rural home in Kapchelanga, Kipkelion Sub-County of Kericho County on October 16, 2024.
A year later she entered the national trials for the 2017 World Under-18 Athletics Championships narrowly missing a slot. But the signs of better things to come were there.
“She was always well-behaved and supportive,” Chebet’s granny Langat says.
“It was clear I was raising a girl destined for greatness. If I want to go anywhere now I just jump into the car and I am driven because of her success in sports”.
Chebet acknowledges the support of her grandmother that has helped her to rise to level she enjoys today.
Her season last year, spiced by four major titles, was simply phenomenal.She started with a bang, winning the Barcelona 5km road race in a new world record time of 14:13 before retaining her senior women’s gold at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in March.
She followed this up with a women’s 10,000m world record. Running her first 10,000m race at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League in Eugene, USA that was part of Kenya’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games trials, Chebet clocked an astounding 28:54.14, becoming the first woman in history to cover the distance in under 29 minutes.
An Olympic gold medal – a first for Kenya in this race, at Paris was inevitable. She added the Olympic women’s 5,000m gold for good measure.
Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet’s mother Lillian Kirui during an interview at their rural home in Kapchelanga, Kipkelion Sub-County of Kericho County on October 16, 2024.
“It has been a long journey and I just want to thank God for those who have touched my life in one way or the other. The season has been one of the best and going into another year, I expect to impress in the events that I will be competing in,” warned Chebet.
Fortunes
Professional athletics has helped Chebet change the fortunes of her family. Kirui thanks her daughter for buying land and building a modern house for the family and paying school fees for her siblings.
“I didn’t have a car and I used to watch with envy other people driving but today I’m happy because I can be counted among those who own a vehicle. It is because of her running career and we really thank God for her,” said the father filled with pride.
Chebet’s brother Cosmas Kiprotich says they were inspired when she competed at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
“My sister always wants her things to be done perfectly and look how far she has gone. That has really shaped us because we don’t want to mess up in any way,” said Kiprotich.
Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet’s husband Peter Bii during an interview at their home in Iten on October 16, 2024.
Chebet attributes her success to the people in her life including her husband, who also acts as her coach and camera man for Tik Tok content.
Bii lets out on a secret. “Chebet was not sure of winning the two gold medals in Paris but I kept telling her to have the confidence.”
“She is never scared to lose and when she misses out on the top positions it is okay with her,” Bii added.
Chebet’s first coach at Lemotit Athletics camp, Paul Kemei said: “When her grandmother brought her to the camp I saw a girl who wanted nothing but the best.”
Gabriel Kiptanui, who coached Chebet in Kericho, collaborates the razor focus quality Chebet possesses.
“When I started coaching her early in her career I explained to her the need to work hard and persevere in this very competitive sport. I saw that she was an athlete who wanted action. She would run abroad and we could revise the race on videos and I must say she is an athlete who wants to be the best,” said Kiptanui.
The coach believes Chebet can improve even more as she is disciplined and always finishes her training programme.
“You can see the good performances she has posted in most races she has competed in.”
The world championships beckon this year. Another world record perhaps? The sky is certainly the limit for the red-hot, going places Chebet.
