Beatrice Chebet on the hunt for the 5K world record

Paraphrasing Carlos Alcaraz, who likes to say that ‘finals are not played, they are won’, in the international 5K of the Cursa dels Nassos the world records, that's nothing, they are not attempted, they are broken; this seems to confirm the incorruptible statistic: already in the 2021 edition the Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi established the still current world record of 12:49, while his compatriot Ejgayehu Taye broke the women's record with 14:19, coming close to improving it the following year with 14:21; the Kenyan squad wanted to join the Barcelona party in 2023 and Beatrice Chebet shaved up to six seconds off Taye's record to leave it at 14:13; All of this makes for a total of three world records in three editions, a sequence that is very difficult to maintain, but the Cursa dels Nassos, which is part of the World Athletics calendar for another year, accepts the challenge for another season and has recruited the best long-distance runner on the planet so that the magic can reappear on New Year's Eve in the wide avenues of Barcelona.

Chebet, who was born with the century and will turn 25 on March 5, will present herself at the starting line anointed with her double title of Olympic champion of 5,000 and 10,000m in Paris, plus the endorsement of having broken the world record for 10,000m this season, becoming the first woman to descend the 29m mark on the track with 28:54.14; Her long track record includes the title of 5K world champion at the inaugural Riga 2023 world championships and, more importantly, she is the reigning double world cross-country champion, imposing her authority in 2023 and 2024, so everything seems to indicate that the Barcelonans present at such an exciting time-based challenge will spot an OVSI, an identified flying object, named Beatrice and surnamed Chebet; a simple mental calculation indicates that a brisk cadence of 2:50/km would guarantee the objective of improving her own record, which she shares with her compatriot Agnes Ngetich, although the organisation, as detail-oriented as few, will mark the circuit every 500m for an easier comparison of passing times. The person in charge of setting that pace will be the Latvian Dmitrijs Serjogins, 31 years old, already seasoned in the hare trade, and who has just represented his country at the European cross-country championships in Antalya.

Chebet will be the star of the evening on the imminent 31st of December, but she will not have to overlook the presence of the Ethiopian Medina Eisa, still under-20, and who has already beaten the record in her category twice: the first time was at last year's Cursa when she stopped the clock at 14:40, improving that record by two seconds on German soil on 27th April; the future Ethiopian star has a brutal time of 14:16.54 on the track and placed 7th at the Paris Games; while Chebet confirmed in the Italica cross country that she is in top form, Eisa will compete for the first time since 14th September, when she finished second in the 5,000m of the Diamond League final only behind... Chebet, of course; The third in contention should be Melknat Wudu, Eisa's compatriot, having both been born on the same day, 3/1/2005, so the Cursa represents the last opportunity for both to establish, on the bell, a new world record for under-20s. Wudu clocked a spectacular 14:40 when Eisa beat the current under-20 record of 14:38, predicting a beautiful fight for second place; the local flag will be defended by the multiple Spanish 1,500m champion, Esther Guerrero, who has successively clocked 16:03, 15:50 and 15:45 in her last three appearances in this event, which suggests a new improvement for the Banyoles native while Carla Domínguez, European under-20 champion of 5000m in 2021, hopes to continue her progress.

Matthew Kipruto is the man to beat

In the men's race, which will share the starting gun with the women at 16.20h, the big favourite, in the absence of the injured Thierry Ndikumwenayo, is Kenyan Matthew Kipkoech Kipruto, second here last year and bronze medallist under-20 in the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, author of a time of 13:18.45 over 5,000m on the track this summer and winner on Italian soil of the prestigious Cinque Molins cross country last month, while the Spanish 10K record holder, Abdessadam Oukhelfen, 8th in Antalya and brand new team gold medallist there, will be ready to improve his 13:27 from last year and keep an eye on the 'other Mechaal', Said, who at 26 years old is reaching his, so longed for by many, athletic maturity, having pulverised this year. In the same month, Said achieved his best 5,000m performance with an excellent time of 13:21.13 on the indoor track in Boston; and, representing his university, Iowa State, Said finished in a fabulous 10th place in the NCAA National Collegiate Championships over 10km, a very high-level competition held a month ago, which certifies that he is already one of our best long-distance runners.

With all these incentives, is there anyone who is going to miss the Cursa dels Nassos 2024?