Women's 5km Preview: World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 2023
The women’s 5km event at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga this weekend is set to be a thrilling spectacle. A host of Olympic and world medalists will compete, all aiming to secure the first of the six prestigious titles available at the event. The race promises to be a dazzling showcase of elite athletic prowess and competition.
The first race of the World Road Running Championships is the elite women's 5km race is set to commence at 11:50 local time (GMT +3).
Women's 5km Preview:
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet is aiming to win her second world title this season following her triumph at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst. Chebet won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Budapest one year after the silver medal in Eugene 2022. She finished second in the 5000m at the Diamond League final in Eugene setting the third fastest time in history with 14:05.92 in the race where Gudaf Tsegay broke the world record with 14:00.21.
Chebet set her PB in the 5 km when she won the Diamond League final in Zurich with 14:32 on the road in Sechselautenplatz.
The Kenyan team will also feature 2017 world cross country bronze medallist Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, who won the 5000 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels in 14.26.46 and improved his PB to 14:23.05 in Paris.
Ejgeyehu Taye set the mixed race world record over the 5 km distance on the road with 14.19 in Barcelona on 31 December 2021 and returned one year later to win the same race in 14:21. Taye won two bronze medals at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022 in the 3000 metres and at the World Championships in the 10000 metres in Budapest 2023. The Ethiopian athlete improved her PB in the 5000 metres to 14:12.98 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene 2022 and clocked 14:13.31 at the Paris Diamond League meeting.
Taye will be joined by world under 20 cross country silver medallist Medina Eisa, who improved her PBs to 14:16.54 at the London Diamond League meeting and 14:46 in the 5 km in Herzogenaurach, and world indoor 3000 metres champion Lemlem Hailu, who clocked 14:34.54 in Paris last July.
Reigning Olympic 3000 metres steeplechase champion Peruth Chemutai leads the Ugandan team. Chemutai beat Beatrice Chebet by 13 seconds at the Hannut Cross Country Championships and set a national record in the 5 km in Lille in 2022. The Ugandan team also features Joy Cheptoyek and Prisca Chebet, who won bronze medals in the 5000 metres at the 2021 and 2022 World Under 20 Championships.
World 5000 metres finalist Nozomi Tanaka from Japan will compete in both the mile and the 5000 metres after improving the national record to 14:29.18 at the Diamond League in Brussels.
Olympic and world finalist Nadia Battocletti from Italy improved the Italian record in the 5000 metres to 14:41.30 at the London Diamond League meeting and also set PBs in the 1500 with 4:03.34 in Padua, 31:06.42 in the 10000m in London in 2023 and a national record over the 5 km distance with 15:13 in Herzogenaurach. She finished fourth in the 3000 metres at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul in 8:44.96.
The first race of the World Road Running Championships is the elite women's 5km race is set to commence at 11:50 local time (GMT +3).
World Athletics, in partnership with the main sponsor TDK, will honor the winners of the individual events with a $70,000 prize. Moreover, a substantial bonus of $100,000 will be granted for setting new world records. In total, the World Championships will feature a substantial cumulative prize pool of $8,498,000.
