The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Monaco, Principality of Monaco | THE INDEPENDENT | With an astonishing time of 12:35.36, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei today added the track 5,000m to the 5,000m road and 15km world records he holds.
World 10,000m world champion Cheptegei ran incredibly 11 consistent laps, closing in a time of 59.64 as he set the new record. He even had the time to stop his stop-watch as he crossed the finish line at the Monaco Diamond League race.
He breaks the 16-year-old record (12:37.35) formerly held by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
The only other Ugandan to have held a world record before was legend John Akii Bua, world record holder in the 400m Hurdles in 1972.
Evolution of the 5,000m record
| Time | Athlete | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14:36.6 |  Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) |
1912-07-10 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 14:35.4 | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) |
1922-09-12 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 14:28.2 | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) |
1924-06-19 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 14:17.0 | Lauri Lehtinen (FIN) |
1932-06-19 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 14:08.8 | Taisto Mäki (FIN) |
1939-06-16 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 13:58.2 |  Gunder Hägg (SWE) |
1942-09-20 | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| 13:57.2 |  Emil Zátopek (TCH) |
1954-05-30 | Paris, France |
| 13:56.6 |  Vladimir Kuts (URS) |
1954-08-29 | Bern, Switzerland |
| 13:51.6 |  Chris Chataway (GBR) |
1954-10-13 | London, United Kingdom[ |
| 13:51.2 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) |
1954-10-23 | Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| 13:50.8 |  Sandor Iharos (HUN) |
1955-09-10 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 13:46.8 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) |
1955-09-18 | Belgrad, Yugoslavia |
| 13:40.6 | Sandor Iharos (HUN) |
1955-10-23 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 13:36.8 | Gordon Pirie (GBR) |
1956-06-19 | Bergen, Norway |
| 13:35.0 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) |
1957-10-13 | Rome, Italy |
| 13:34.8 |  Ron Clarke (AUS) |
1965-01-16 | Hobart, Australia |
| 13:33.6 | Ron Clarke (AUS) |
1965-02-01 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 13:25.8 | Ron Clarke (AUS) |
1965-06-04 | Compton, USA |
| 13:24.2 |  Kipchoge Keino (KEN) |
1965-11-30 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 13:16.6 | Ron Clarke (AUS) |
1966-07-05 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 13:16.4 | Lasse Virén (FIN) |
1972-09-14 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 13:13.0 |  Emiel Puttemans (BEL) |
1972-09-20 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 13:12.9 |  Dick Quax (NZL) |
1977-07-05 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 13:08.4 | Henry Rono (KEN) |
1978-04-08 | Berkeley, California, USA |
| 13:06.20 | Henry Rono (KEN) |
1981-09-13 | Knarvik, Norway |
| 13:00.41 | David Moorcroft (GBR) |
1982-07-07 | Oslo, Norway |
| 13:00.40 |  Saïd Aouita (MAR) |
1985-07-22 | Oslo, Norway |
| 12:58.39 | Saïd Aouita (MAR) |
1987-07-27 | Rome, Italy |
| 12:56.96 |  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) |
1994-06-04 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 12:55.30 | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) |
1995-06-08 | Rome, Italy |
| 12:44.39 | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) |
1995-08-16 | Zürich, Switzerland |
| 12:41.86 |  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) |
1997-08-13 | Zürich, Switzerland |
| 12:39.74 | Daniel Komen (KEN) |
1997-08-22 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 12:39.36 | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) |
1998-06-13 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 12:37.35 | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) |
2004-05-31 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 12:35.36 |  Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) |
2020-08-14 | Monaco |
