Barcelona, Jan. 1 (BNA): Ethiopians Bereho Aregawi and Egegayehu Tai finished 2021 at the highest level when they broke the world record for the men’s and women’s 5km race at Corsa dels Nasos in Barcelona.
Aregawi, 20, nearly broke Joshua Cheptegei’s world record at night last month, this time with a time of 12 minutes and 49 seconds, two seconds ahead of the Ugandan record.
Both men and women started at the same time and Taye, 21, was allowed to use the men in the field as heart rate monitors.
She eventually crossed the line in 14:19, beating the mixed race record by nearly half a minute, and beat Sweden’s Merav Bahta, who came in second with a time of 15:04.