Watch Taye and Aregawi break 5km world records in Barcelona

Watch the video of Ethiopian runners Ejegayehu Taye and Berihu Aregawi breaking the 5km world records at the Cursa dels Nassos in the dark in Barcelona on Friday (31). The standout distance stars achieved their respective feats after clocking 14:19 and 12:49 times on New Year’s Eve.

Taye had set an Ethiopian 3000m record of 8:19.52 earlier this year, and was the second-fastest woman in the world over 5000m this season.

However, the 21-year-old was contesting just the second international road race of her career tonight in Barcelona and she didn’t fail to deliver as she finished 15th overall in the open race and first among the women finishers.

Watch the video below

Twenty-year-old Aregawi, meanwhile, had come within one second of Joshua Cheptegei’s world record in Lille last month, so was keen to take another crack at the mark before the year was out to ensure he could end 2021 on a high.

With the women and men starting at the same time, Taye was able to use some of the men in 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 14:19, taking 24 seconds off the world record for the 5km in a mixed race. Bahta was second in 15:04.

Aregawi had a pacemaker for early company, but thereafter he was out on his own. The Diamond League 5000m champion stormed through the finish line in the dark in an impressive time of 12:49, which took two seconds off Cheptegei’s previous world record.

Peter Maru was a distant runner-up in 13:30, while finishing in third place was Mike Foppen, even further back in 13:37.

Mehdi Belhadj ran 13:38 for fourth place with the top five finishers rounded out by Santiago Catrofe, who clocked 13:39 on the night.

Complete Results: Click here