Nearly six months after achieving 5-kilometer road all-time best, Cheptegei runs 12:35.36 to take down 2004 global standard held by Bekele; Kenyan standout Kipyegon runs No. 2 all-time in women’s 1,000 and Swedish star Duplantis takes attempts at outdoor pole vault record, with Lyles and Brazier also victorious

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Joshua Cheptegei had already made history once this year in the principality, setting the 5-kilometer road world record Feb. 16 at the Herculis Monaco Run.

Nearly six months later, after training at home in Uganda during the Coronavirus pandemic, Cheptegei returned to Monaco to eclipse a 16-year-old global standard in the 5,000 meters Friday at Herculis EBS, the annual Wanda Diamond League meeting held at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille.

Cheptegei, 23, clocked 12 minutes, 35.36 seconds, closing the final 1,000 meters in under 2:30, relying on sub-60 efforts on each of the final two laps to take down the 2004 mark of 12:37.35 held by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.

“I think Monaco is a special place and it’s one of these places where I could break the world record,” Cheptegei told World Athletics. “It took a lot of mind setting to keep being motivated this year because so many people are staying at home, but you have to stay motivated.”

Cheptegei, the reigning 10,000-meter World gold medalist and global cross country champion, has set an incredible standard for distance running during his past five races.

After securing the Diamond League 5,000 title in Zurich, Switzerland nearly a year ago, Cheptegei followed in October with the 10,000 World title in Doha, Qatar.

He then achieved the 10-kilometer road world record in December by clocking 26:38 in Valencia, Spain, followed by his 12:51 road 5-kilometer performance in Monaco.

“I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach. I’m also usually based in Europe, but being based in Uganda with my family was actually great,” Cheptegei said. “I will for sure celebrate the world record when I get home.”

It marked the fourth time in six years that a world record has been set at Stade Louis II, including Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in the 1,500 meters in 2015, Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech in the 3,000 steeplechase in 2018 and Dutch star Sifan Hassan in the mile last year.

There was nearly another world record set in the women’s 1,000 meters, with Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon running 2:29.15 to just miss the 1996 mark of 2:28.98 achieved by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova.

Kipyegon, who elevated to No. 2 all-time, led four athletes who ascended among the top 10 performers in history.

Great Britain’s Laura Muir clocked 2:30.82 to improve to No. 7, Ireland’s Ciara Mageean ran 2:31.06 to rank ninth, followed closely by rising Scottish talent Jemma Reekie in 2:31.11 for 10th all-time. American Raevyn Rogers placed ninth overall in 2:37.10.

“I feel great to be back racing and after all we’ve been through, it was a great race today,” Kipyegon said. “Having Laura so close to me coming at the front helped me to push myself.”

Cheptegei and Kipyegon led 11 world-leading performances, including a deep women’s 5,000 won by Kenya’s Hellen Obiri in 14:22.12, surpassing the 14:23.92 North American record produced July 10 by Shelby Houlihan at the second Portland Intrasquad meet at Jesuit High in Oregon.

“Because Kenya was in lockdown, I was not able to train properly so I was not well prepared for this race,” Obiri said. “For me, I thought I was in shape for 14.40 and seeing I did 14.22, I am really happy. It’s a golden opportunity to come here and to run a world lead and a meet record.”

Obiri, who passed Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey (14:26.57) with 200 meters to go, took down the 2014 meet record of 14:28.88 established by Dibaba. Hassan, the reigning World champion in the 1,500 and 10,000, was among the lead pack with three laps to go before dropping out of the race.

Laura Weightman placed third in 14:35.44, elevating to the No. 2 British performer in history behind only the 14:29.11 effort achieved in 2004 by Paula Radcliffe.

Jessica Hull smashed the Australian national record by clocking 14:43.80, eclipsing the 2002 standard of 14:47.60 held by Benita Willis-Johnson. American Shannon Rowbury, a teammate of Hull in the Nike group coached by Pete Julian, finished fifth in 14:45.11.

“I knew it was gonna hurt, but it's a pain I never knew before,” Hull said. “I was so surprised because we got to six laps to go and I felt alright and then we came down with three to go and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m never gonna finish.’ But my teammate was right there and while we haven’t been able to train together because she was training in Portland while I was in Australia, we were training in parallel and I took confidence that if Shannon could do it, then I could do it and vice versa.”

Donavan Brazier, also a member of Julian’s training group and the reigning World 800-meter gold medalist, led an American sweep of the top two spots along with Bryce Hoppel, with Canada’s Marco Arop (1:44.14) placing third.

“It feels good and like the validation here. I’m racing everybody on the West coast and I don’t really know where I’m at,” Brazier said. “It’s easy to win these competitions, but coming here and four of the top eight guys are in this race, so I’m really happy. It was exciting.”

Brazier lowered his own world lead to 1:43.15, with Hoppel improving on his personal best by more than a second to run 1:43.23, ascending to the No. 7 all-time U.S. performer.

“This race felt great. I saw Brazier at the end and I gave everything that I could, but it wasn’t enough,” Hoppel said. “Training has been weird for me because I currently don’t have a team to train with, but running here turned out amazing, a lot better than I thought.”

Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, the defending World 1,500 champion, established an aggressive early pace, before holding on for victory in a world-leading 3:28.45, just off his personal-best 3:28.41 from 2018 in Monaco.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 19, established a new European record and elevated to the No. 8 performer in history by clocking 3:28.68. Ingebrigtsen broke the 2013 European mark of 3:28.81 achieved in Monaco by Great Britain’s Mo Farah.

“Going from 2.30 to 2.28, it’s double the achievement. It’s crazy,” Ingebrigtsen said. “This year I have been doing every session, I never skipped a single one because I was very motivated after Doha. That’s why I can run this fast. It’s unbelievebale to run this fast in one race. It’s one shot, one chance.”

British talent Jake Wightman was third in 3:29.47, Norway’s Filip Ingebrigtsen secured fourth in 3:30.35 and world indoor mile record holder Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia finished fifth in 3:32.69. American Craig Engels took 11th in 3:35.42.

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, who needed his mother Helena and two other women to drive 25 hours to transport his poles from Sweden since there were no flights available to send his equipment to Monaco, made a third-attempt clearance at 19 feet, 8.25 inches (6.00m) and took three tries at the outdoor world record held since 1994 by Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka.

“That was pretty important for me. I wanted to get over 6.00 meters, I wanted to show everybody and myself that I am in 6-meter shape,” Duplantis said. “Still a little bit rusty, there are still a couple of things I’ve got to figure out on my run, it’s just kind of a rhythm thing. Physically I feel good, but the rhythm is just not exactly where I want it to be.”

Duplantis cleared 18-8.25 (5.70m) on his third attempt, followed by making 19-0.50 (5.80m) on his first try. After the dramatic clearance at 19-8.25, Duplantis had the bar set at 20-2 (6.15m), which would have eclipsed Bubka’s standard of 20-1.75 (6.14m).

Duplantis already boasts the all-time absolute pole vault record with his 20-3.25 (6.18m) indoor clearance Feb. 15 in Scotland. American Sam Kendricks was unable to vault because his poles didn’t arrive in time for competition.

After fellow American Kenny Bednarek ran 19.80 on Monday in Florida to temporarily grab the world lead in the 200 meters, World champion Noah Lyles ran a wind-legal 19.76 on Friday, just off his meet-record 19.65 from 2018. Josephus Lyles took second in 20.30.

“It’s a lot better to be out here competing instead of being in your backyard,” Lyles said. “Racing on home tracks really felt like practice and I wanted to compete, feel the pressure with the other athletes, get that excitement going.”

Norway’s Karsten Warholm, the defending World gold medalist in the 400 hurdles, produced the fastest global mark this year by clocking 47.10 to eclipse the 1992 meet record of 47.60 posted by American Kevin Young.

Spain’s Orlando Ortega emerged victorious in an exciting men’s 110-meter hurdles, running a world-leading 13.11. Great Britain’s Andrew Pozzi clocked 13.14, France’s Wilhem Belocian was third in 13.18 and reigning World champion Grant Holloway finished fourth in 13.19 in his first international race of the year.

Lynna Irby ran a world-leading 50.50 in the women’s 400, with fellow American Wadeline Jonathas taking second in 51.40 and rising Dutch standout Femke Bol placing third in 51.57.

Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, a two-time World medalist in the men’s 3,000 steeplechase, ran a world-leading 8:08.04 to hold off Kenya’s Leonard Kipkemoi Bett in 8:08.78.

A pair of Ukrainian standouts battled in the women’s high jump, with Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Yuliya Levchenko both clearing 6-6 (1.98m) on their second attempts.

Mahuchikh earned the victory based on making 6-4.75 (1.95m) on her first opportunity, with Levchenko extending the competition on her third attempt. Both athletes missed three tries at 6-7 (2.01m).

Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas, No. 2 all-time in the women’s triple jump, prevailed with a fourth-round effort of 46-10 (14.27m). Bulgaria’s Gabriela Petrova took second at 46-6.25 (14.18m) and Portugal’s Patricia Mamona was third at 46-2.50 (14.08m).

Switzerland’s Ajla del Ponte won the women’s 100-meter dash in a wind-legal 11.16, with American Aleia Hobbs second in 11.28.