On January 14th, 2024, Agnes Jebet Ngetich achieved an incredible feat by breaking the world record for the 10-kilometer road race. She surpassed the previous record held by Ethiopian runner Yalemzerf Yehualaw by an astonishing 28 seconds, becoming the first woman in history to complete the race in under 29 minutes. Ngetich accomplished this extraordinary feat at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, a World Athletics Label road race.

Throughout the race, Ngetich and her fellow Kenyan runner, Emmaculate Anyango, took control early on and established a substantial lead over the rest of the competitors. Ngetich demonstrated her exceptional speed in the last kilometer of the race, ultimately finishing with a time of 28:46. This shattered Yehualaw’s world record of 29:14 set in 2022 in Castellon. Astonished by her own performance, Ngetich expressed her happiness and disbelief, stating that she did not expect to break the world record. She also shared her future plans, which include focusing on the Paris Olympic Games after the world cross country championships.

In addition to Ngetich’s remarkable achievement, Anyango secured the second position with a personal best time of 28:57, while Lilian Kasait finished third in 29:35, ensuring a clean podium sweep for Kenya. On the men’s side, Jacob Kiplimo narrowly missed breaking the current world record of 26:24 set by Rhonex Kipruto four years ago at the same event, as he crossed the finish line in 26:53. Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew and Kenya’s Peter Mwaniki claimed second and third place, respectively, with times of 26:59 and 27:00.