Kenyan fans have previously been accused of exerting unreasonable pressure on athletics stars to deliver medals on the first day of global championships.
But on Saturday, one of the country’s golden girls, Beatrice Chebet gifted an expectant nation a gold medal on Day 1 of the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships.
Chebet’s victory in the women’s 10,000m was phenomenal, and punctuated with grit and tactics.
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The double Olympic champion said she was not under pressure coming into Saturday’s race.
“Today, I am so happy. Coming here to Tokyo, I was like I have to move. You know I don’t have a World Championship gold medal and I had a plan to go for it,” Chebet said after victory.
The newest world champion went on to say: “I have a World Cross Country and Olympic medal and I now have a world title. I’m so happy for myself (for the achievement). I want to thank everyone who supported me, from my coach to my family and to Athletics Kenya as well the Ministry (of sports) and the country. I want to say thank you for the support. It means a lot to me.”
With the victory, Chebet is poised to pocket Sh3 million from the Kenyan government aside from the World Athletics winning prize money.
Chebet said she was proud of her victory, adding that she had to be mentally strong to win the tough race.
She is now focused on the 5000m race, and she also targets a podium position in the catfight that begins with the heats on September 18 and final on 20th.
“It was not an easy race. I had to be mentally strong to win. The opponents were strong, especially Tsegay (Gudaf) who was defending her title.
“I teamed up with Ngetich (Agnes) in the 10,000m final and the 5000m will be anyone’s to win. If Faith (Kipyegon) wins, I will celebrate her and she will do the same if I emerge victorious,” she said.
Although Ngetich, who was tipped for a podium spot in the 10,000m final finished fourth in the hot contest, her push was visibly remarkable.
Despite the strong challenge from Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, the Kenyan duo of Chebet and 10km world record holder Agnes Ngetich, displayed unmatched resilience, sustaining a neck-and-neck with other stars among them Nadia Battocletti of Italy, who bagged silver and the Ethiopian star (Tsegay), who secured bronze.
Tsegay was defending her 2023 world 10,000m title and she fought hard.
Chebet on the other hand came into the race as the world record holder and the Olympic champion.
She timed an impressive 30:37.61 for her first world title. Previously, Chebet had a bronze from 2023 Budapest and silver that she bagged in 2022 Eugene.
A fierce rivalry between Chebet and Tsegay was not surprising because the Kenyan queen had smashed the Ethiopian gun’s 5000m world record in July.
Chebet and Ngetich stuck behind Japanese Ririka Hironaka before establishing their lead at the 11th lap.
But Tsegay upped her momentum and followed the Kenyan duo closely.
With eight laps to go, Chebet, Ngetich and Gudaf were neck-and-neck with Ejgayehu Taye (Ethiopia), who eventually placed fifth momentarily taking the lead.
At 8000m, the leading pack had whittled down to five women with Italian Battocletti in the mix, running side by side with Ngetich.
With three laps remaining, Tsegay moved to the front but Chebet and Ngetich responded.
The defining moment came after the bell. Chebet produced a killer kick to bag her gold medal, overpowering Tsegay and leaving Battocletti and Tsegay battling for the silver and bronze. Ngetich was at the moment out of medal contention.