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Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye and Berihu Aregawi broke world records in 5km races at the year-ending Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona. Taye recorded a time of 14:18s while Aregawi clocked 12:50s.
Ejgayehu Taye set an Ethiopian 3000m record of 8:19.52s earlier this year, and was the second-fastest woman in the world in the 5,000m this season. However, she was contesting just the second international road race of her career in Barcelona.
20-year-old Berihu Aregawi, meanwhile, came within one second of Joshua Cheptegei’s world record in Lille in November 2021. He seemed keen to take another crack at the mark before the year was out to ensure he could end 2021 on a high.
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Aregawi had a pacemaker for company for the first kilometer or so, but was out on his own after that. The Diamond League 5,000m champion stormed through the finish line in 12:50s, taking one second off Cheptegei’s world record.
Peter Maru was a distant runner-up in 13:30s.
Ejgayehu Taye completes a good year on a high note
With women and men starting at the same time, Taye was able to use some of the men on the field as pacemakers. She opened up a clear gap on Sweden’s Meraf Bahta in the early stages and went on to win in 14:18s, taking 25 seconds off the world record for the 5km in a mixed race. Bahta was second in 15:04s.
Both athletes narrowly missed out on medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games earlier in the year. However, their 2021 season ended on a high with record-breaking performances.
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At the Tokyo Olympics, Taye came fourth in the 5,000m heats with a time of 14:48s while in the final, Taye stood fifth after clocking 14:51s.
Taye maintained her strong form in her final three Diamond League appearances of the track season. She clocked an Ethiopian 3000m record of 8:19.52 in Paris and placed second over 5000m in Brussels. Taye then finished third over that same distance at the Diamond League final in Zurich.
Also read: 2022 Diamond League to start in Doha in May
