On Sunday, Agnes Ngetich from Kenya broke the women-only world 10km record with a time clocking of 29:24 at the World Athletics Elite Label road race in Romania.
"I didn't expect to get the world record. I just wanted a PB [personal best], low 30 minutes to break the course record, but a world record is really a surprise," said Ngetich.
The 22-year-old runner finished the first 5km in 14:25, which was four seconds ahead of the previous world record for the same distance.
"As well as being the fastest women-only 10km, Ngetich's time is the third-quickest by a woman in history, behind only the 29:14 run by Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw in a mixed race in Castellon last year and the 29:19 Yehualaw clocked in Valencia earlier this year," stated the World Athletics Organization.
In February, Ngetich claimed bronze at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Australia. Later in August, she ended on sixth place in the 10,000m final at the World Athletics Championships Budapest.
"I started the year with the World Cross, which was perfect, so I wanted to close the season with a good result," explained Ngetich.
At the World Athletics Elite Label, Ngetich's fellow competitor Catherine Reline finished second in 30:14, while Uganda's Joy Cheptoyek opted for a third-place finish in 30:34.
In the men's race, Kenya also won first place with Weldon Langat. He managed to clock 27:05 on 10km. These two results created a double for Kenya in the championship.