Marathon runner Agnes Ngetich scripted history on Sunday by breaking the women’s world 10km record at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, a World Athletics Label road race. In an extraordinary performance, the 22-year-old completed the race in an impressive 28:46.
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Ngetich became the first woman to complete the 10km in under 29 minutes, beating the previous record of Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw in the Castellon race two years ago by 28 seconds.
Ngetich clocked 14:13 at the halfway point, breaking a five-year-old record of 14:19 set in a mixed race in Barcelona in 2021, according to World Athletics.It also matches the time clocked by Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet in a woman-only race in Barcelona just On December 31, 2023.
Ngetich’s 10km time is also faster than the women’s world record for the distance on the track, with Letesenbet Gidey’s world 10,000m record standing at 29:01.03.
“I am so happy. I didn’t expect this world record,” said Ngetich. “I was coming to improve my time, at least somewhere around 29:14, but I am happy that I ran a world record of 28 minutes. I didn’t expect this.”