Women’s 5,000m and 1,500m world records broken at Pre Classic

It was an exciting day at the Prefontaine Classic/Eugene Diamond League on Saturday, with not one, but two world records in women’s distance running going down: first, 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet became the first woman in the world to smash the 14-minute barrier in the 5,000m, crossing the line in 13:58.06 to break the world record, previously held by Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia at 14:00.21, by more than two seconds. Then, in the final event of the day, it was Faith Kipyegon’s turn. Fresh off her sub-four-minute mile attempt in Paris last month, the triple Olympic champion sprinted to a dominant victory in the 1,500m, lowering her own world record, which had stood at 3:49.04, by 36 one-hundredths of a second, to 3:48.68.

Two. World. Records. 🇰🇪🇰🇪

A night of drama and history at #EugeneDL🇺🇸 https://t.co/dW7kJ5YWYd

The Road to the Final continues next Friday for #MonacoDL🇲🇨!#DiamondLeague📸@matthewquine / Logan Hannigan-Downs pic.twitter.com/84JEXOXG8r

— Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 5, 2025

Victory for Chebet

Former world record holder Tsegay was in the 5,000m race also, finishing third, in 14:04.41; Agnes Ngetich of Kenya was second, in 14:01.29–a new personal best. Chebet’s previous personal best was 14:03.69.

“I’m so happy!” Chebet told Olympics.com after the race. “After running in Rome, I said I have to prepare for a record, because in Rome I was just running to win a race.

“But after running 14:03, I said that I’m capable of running a world record. So, let me go back home, and then come to Eugene.

“When I was coming here to Eugene, I was coming to prepare to run a world record, and I said I have to try. I’m so happy because I’ve achieved being the first woman to run under 14. I’m so happy for myself.”

Redemption for Kipyegon

In the 1,500m, Kipyegon’s main competition in the final 300m were Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia, who finished second, in 3:51.44, and Australia’s Jessical Hull, who was third, in 3:52.67.

As many observers would agree, it was nice to see Kipyegon win a real race and break a real world record, after the disappointing (but hardly unexpected) result at Breaking4, where she managed to lower her mile world record time of 4:07.64 by almost a second, to 4:06.91, but fell far short of the wildly ambitious (some would say wildly premature) goal of sub-four-minutes. (The time doesn’t count as an official world record, due to the use of male pacers; the event was created purely for Kipyegon to attempt sub-four.) Nike almost immediately declared her official time to be a few fractions of a second lower, to eliminate her reaction time, to the consternation of critics.

Other Pre Classic results

Winfred Yavi of Bahrain set a world lead and meeting record in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, with 8:45.25, less than a second off the world record.

Niels Laros of the Netherlands claimed a surprise victory in the Bowerman Mile, with 3:45.94–a national record–beating Olympic champion Cole Hocker (who was fourth on Saturday, in a new personal best of 3:47.43) and Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse (who finished second, in 3:45.95). 

In the women’s 100m final, Olympic champion Julien Alfred found herself outrun by Olympic bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who won in 10.75, while Olympic silver medallist Sha’Carri Richardson finished ninth.

Canadian throwers boast excellent results

World shot put champion Sarah Mitton was second in her event, with 20.39.

Olympic hammer throw champion Camryn Rogers won her event in Eugene with a throw of 78.88m, while Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg finished second in the men’s hammer throw, with 81.73.

For full results from the Prefontaine Classic, click here.