2025 REVIEW: A look at Beatrice Chebet’s season that delivered elusive World Championships gold

By the time 2025 rolled around, Beatrice Chebet had already done almost everything an elite distance runner could dream of.

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Olympic gold medals, Diamond League victories, Cross-country crowns, and local races; she had conquered them all.

However, there was one prize missing from her cabinet: a World Championships gold medal on the track.

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It was a small gap in an otherwise flawless career, but for an athlete of Chebet’s calibre, it mattered. When the season began, that unfinished business became her driving force.

Chebet has never been one to settle. Heading into the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, she was chasing something.

When she announced she would attempt the 5,000m–10,000m double in Tokyo, few were surprised. She had already pulled it off on the biggest stage of all at the Paris Olympics.

If anything, the decision felt like a natural extension of who she is.

The season that set the tone

The warning signs for the rest of the world were there early. Chebet opened her 2025 Diamond League campaign in Xiamen on April 26 and made it look routine, winning the 5,000m in 14:27.12.

In Rabat, she switched distances and sent an even louder message. Dropping down to the 3,000m, Chebet clocked 8:11.56, smashing the African and Diamond League records and moving to second on the all-time list.

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By June 6 in Rome, she was back to the 5,000m, producing a meeting record of 14:03.69.

The night everything changed

That missing prize arrived on July 5 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. Athletics Kenya was using the meet as part of its selection process, with a qualifying standard of 14:50.00.

Chebet ran with freedom and confidence, and from the moment the pacemakers pushed the tempo, it felt different.

She passed the first kilometre in 2:47.07, hit 2,000m in 5:35.37, and when the pacers stepped aside, Chebet did not hesitate. She surged to the front and never looked back.

Only Gudaf Tsegay and Agnes Jebet Ngetich could briefly stay with her as she tore through the race.

At 3,000m, the clock read 8:22.96, a stadium record. Then came the final lap—sixty-one point nine seconds of pure intent.

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When she crossed the line, history stared back at her: 13:58.06. Beatrice Chebet had become the first woman ever to break the 14-minute barrier in the 5,000m. That was a moment that redefined what women’s distance running could look like.

Securing the Tokyo ticket

Chebet’s road to Tokyo continued at the World Championships trials at the Ulinzi Sports Complex on July 22. She finished third in the 10,000m behind Agnes Ng’etich and Janeth Chepng’etich, and comfortably secured her place on Team Kenya.

In August, at the Silesia Diamond League, Chebet lined up for the 1,500m, her first outing at the distance since 2023. There, she produced a personal best of 3:54.73 to finish in second place.

Tokyo: Where the chase ended

By the time the World Championships began in Tokyo, Chebet looked ready; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

In the 5,000m final, she ran with the calm assurance of someone who knew exactly when to strike. When the moment came, she delivered. Chebet surged home in 14:54.36 to claim gold, holding off a late challenge from Faith Kipyegon, who settled for silver in 14:55.07.

With that win, she matched Vivian Cheruiyot’s famous 2011 achievement and became the first woman in history to hold both world and Olympic titles in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the same time. Only Britain’s Mo Farah had ever achieved such a feat before.

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She would go on to complete the Tokyo meet with a second gold in the 10,000m; the perfect ending to the chase that had defined her year.

Beyond the medals

After Tokyo, Chebet withdrew from the Athletics Kenya National Cross-Country Championships in Eldoret on October 25, an event that doubled as trials for the 2026 World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.

Even so, her body of work earned her a wild card, and she is set to open her 2026 season at the global cross-country event.

Then recognition followed

On October 30, Chebet was named the Confederation of African Athletics Female Athlete of the Year as Kenya dominated the continental awards.

Shortly after that, she was nominated for the prestigious World Athletics Athlete of the Year Awards. Despite her achievements, she was overlooked in the final shortlist for the World Athletics Female Track Athlete of the Year award. This is the second consecutive year that Chebet has been snubbed.

Still, her impact went far beyond trophies.

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On November 14, the University of Kabianga awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during its 13th graduation ceremony in Kericho County, celebrating not just her medals but the inspiration she continues to offer young athletes across Kenya and beyond.