World Athletics Championships: Beatrice Chebet focused on historic double in Tokyo

Beatrice Chebet has undergone a remarkable evolution over the past two years, yet it is almost unbelievable that her 10,000m victory on the opening day of competition in Tokyo was her first world title.

Despite a glittering medal haul that includes two Olympic golds, a Commonwealth Games title and two World Cross Country crowns, the Kenyan admitted she felt incomplete without standing atop the podium at the World Championships.

The 25-year-old’s previous outings in the competition saw her win a 5,000m silver medal in Eugene in 2022 and bronze over the same distance in Budapest in 2023, when compatriot Faith Kipyegon claimed victory.

“I came for nothing short of a gold medal and that’s what I was going to take home,” Chebet told BBC Sport Africa.

“I was ready to die on the line because becoming a world champion is all that mattered.”

Chebet outsprinted a chasing pack of three athletes that included the defending champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia with 200m to go, emerging victorious in 30 minutes and 37.61 seconds.

It was a result which sets the world record holder on the path to becoming just the third woman to achieve the 5,000m-10,000m double at the World Championships after Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba (Helsinki 2005) and another Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot (Daegu 2011).

“I truly enjoy making history, and I find immense fulfilment in being part of remarkable moments and among the first to accomplish something new,” said Chebet.

“I want to join that double club so badly. I dream of having my name written in that historic chapter.”