Cheruiyot’s U20 record made official as Kiptum’s marathon record awaits ratification

By Tony Kipkorir

World Athletics ratified four world records on Thursday including the one set by Kenya’s Reynold Cheruiyot in breaking the 1500m under 20 world record back in September when he clocked 3:48.06 to secure a fifth-place finish at the Wanda Diamond League meeting final staged in Eugene.

His time was more than a second faster than the previous world record of 3:49.29 set by Kenyan-born Turkey runner Ilham Tanui Ozbilen in 2009 in Oslo, Norway.

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The other records that were recognized by the world governing body include Gudaf Tsegay’s new 5,000m mark.

“World records set this year by Ryan Crouser, Mondo Duplantis and Gudaf Tsegay have been ratified, while the world U20 record by Reynold Cheruiyot is also now official,” a statement from World Athletics confirmed.

Similar to Cheruiyot, Tsegay smashed Faith Kipyegon’s world record at the Diamond League final, the Ethiopian runner destroying the field to win the race in a time of 14:00.21.

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Tsegay credited her disappointments at the 2023 World Athletics Championships as one of the motivations that helped her achieve the feat.

"I was really angry to not bring back two medals from the World Championships, but I knew from our training I had a lot of potential to do something with my fitness. Even though the conditions weren’t perfect (in Eugene), we thought we could do it,” she revealed.

Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis’ seventh record of his remarkable career was also set in Eugene on Sunday, September 17.

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Duplantis only needed one attempt to improve his previous mark to 6.23m and enter into history books as one of the greatest athlete of the 21st century.

As for Ryan Crouser, he managed to set a new shot-put record on May 27 in Los Angeles, United States by throwing 23.56m.

Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum will however have to wait a little longer before the marathon world record of 2:00.35 he set in Chicago a few weeks ago is made official.

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Kiptum shattered the old record of 2:01:09 set by the legendary Eliud Kipchoge in the 2022 Berlin Marathon in what was just his third marathon race.

The same case applies to Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa who lowered Brigid Kosgei’s universal mark from 2:14.04 to 2:11.53 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon in September.

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