Valencia (Spain) (AFP)

Incredible evening in Valence: Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei over 10,000 m (26 min 11 sec 00) and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey over 5,000 m (14 min 06 sec 62) set the track ablaze on Wednesday, each offering a record of the world.

During an event specially organized for the occasion by their management company (Global Sports Communication), the two athletes perfectly met their expectations on the blue track at the Turia stadium.

All the conditions were met to allow Cheptegei and Gidey to strike a blow and make history: very high level hares and a lighting system giving the tempo along the track, already experienced this year at the meetings of Oslo, Monaco and Brussels.

All in a very pleasant temperature (nearly 23 °).

For Cheptegei, this time confirms a stranglehold on the middle distance started in 2019 with the conquest of the titles of world champion of cross and 10,000 m.

Nothing stands up to the Ugandan (24), not even benchmarks set by one of the running legends like Bekele, whose 2005 performance was pulverized (26:17:53).

- Plucked Bekele -

In the absence of major events and especially of the Olympic Games to be eaten because of Covid-19, Cheptegei had decided to make this special season a real record hunt.

He kept his word by completely defeating Bekele, who had no illusions after having already given him that of the 5,000 m, on August 14 in Monaco (12 min 35 sec 36 against 12 min 37 sec 35).

Despite a 14-day quarantine in the country on his return from the Principality, the Ugandan once again demonstrated his mastery of distance, offering himself a perfect launch into orbit before tackling the world crown of the half-marathon. , October 17 in Gdynia (Poland).

It must be said that Cheptegei, who also owns the world record for the 5 km road, is a real gift.

A native of Kapchorwa, at an altitude of nearly 1,800 m, this big football and Manchester United fan was revealed in 2014 with a world medal in juniors over 10,000 m before going into exile in Kenya to work under Patrick's orders. Sang, the trainer of marathon master Eliud Kipchoge.

But he soon fell homesick, returning to Uganda where Dutchman Andy Ruiter built a high-level group around him.

Since then, the services of choice have been linked, starting with a 2nd place over 10,000 m at the 2017 Worlds at only 20 years old.

- Debate on shoes relaunched -

“His goal is to be the best runner ever,” his coach told the World Athletics website bluntly. “Joshua will be the athlete who takes running to a new level. He will be the news. benchmark. He does amazing things, but in his mind, they might not be that great because he has bigger goals in mind. "

Andy Ruiter even considers his colt capable of breaking the mythical barrier of 2 hours in a marathon, a feat only achieved under very specific conditions by Kipchoge in 2019 and not approved by the International Athletics Federation.

Gidey's feat is more surprising, however.

The Ethiopian blew up the time of her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba over 5,000m (14:11:15 in 2008) when she has yet to win any major titles on the track.

Double junior cross world champion (2015, 2017), the 22-year-old athlete asserted herself last year with a silver medal over 10,000 m at the Worlds.

Whatever the talent of Cheptegei and Gidey, these new world records will in any case necessarily revive the debate on the “magic shoes” which are all the rage on the road and the track.

Nike, which equips the two runners, has indeed produced two new models of pointe shoes, authorized by World Athletics but suspected of greatly improving performance, which no study has yet confirmed.

© 2020 AFP