Kenyan athlete, Nicholas Kimeli, on Thursday, June 9, broke Eliud Kipchoge's 18-year-old record in the 5,000m race at the Wanda Diamond League athletics meet in Rome, Italy.
Kimeli ran the five-kilometre race, clocking a time of 12:46:33, shaving Kipchoge's record by two milliseconds to set a meeting record.
Speaking to the media in a post-race conference, the athlete celebrated his win, stating that he did not expect his maiden victory at the Diamond League would be a record best.
"I am so proud to achieve a world lead and a personal best and the meeting record. I am feeling great because I never won a Diamond League race before, I really pushed to make it happen," he noted.
According to World Athletics, the new time places the Kenyan athlete at position 7 in the 5,000 metre ranking. Flying the country's flag is Daniel Komen with a time of 12:39:74 set in 1997.
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Kiprop led fellow Kenyan Jacob Krop, who crossed the finish line at 12:46.79 to bag a top-two podium finish. Coming in third was Ethiopian Yomir Kejelcha.
On the other hand, Abraham Kibiwott bagged gold in the 3,000m steeplechase race.
The record comes a day after Kenyan sprinting sensation, Ferdinand Omanyala, broke a national record after winning the 100 metre race at the 22nd African Senior Athletics Championships event held in Mauritius.
Omanyala defeated defending champion - South Africa's Akani Simbine in a photo finish after both men clocked 9.93 seconds.
The previous record was held by Joseph Gikonyo who won both the 100 metre and 200-metre titles at the 1990 Cairo Championships.
The timestamp meant that the Kenyan athlete shattered the Championship record that was initially held by Nigeria's Seun Ogunkoya who clocked in at 9.94 seconds in 1998.
The win adds on to Omanyala's stellar career as he holds the continental record of 9.77 seconds in the 100 metres event.
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