Chebet to battle Kasait, Taye in 5K Cursa dels Nassos race

World 5000m silver medalist Beatrice Chebet will seek to end her impressive year on a high as she lines up for the 2023 Cursa dels Nassos five kilometer race in the streets of Barcelona, Spain on Sunday 31 December.

The 23 year old will be battling for the crown with fellow Kenyan Lilian Kasait, and Ethiopian Ejgayehu Taye, for not only what will be one of the event’s stacked women’s competition, but a chance for Chebet to once again establish her dominance over the pair, who she beat in October on her way to clinching the first gold medal of the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23.

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In the five kilometer race then, Chebet clocked 14:35 for a time just six seconds off the women-only world record, with 2017 world cross country bronze medalist Kasait finishing just four seconds behind her in second place.

Taye, the world record-holder for the women's 5km in a mixed race, claimed bronze, in a time of 14:40.

Taye’s 14:19 record, which was coincidentally set at Cursa dels Nassos in 2021, will be on the line, in the traditional event set to mark its 25th anniversary edition with more than 10,000 runners in participation.

“We want the Cursa dels Nassos 2023 to be the most feminine event in our history,” David Escudé, Councilor for Sports at Barcelona City Council, said on the event’s portal. “On the one hand, we will have the three best athletes from the world championship last October, and they will be competing in Barcelona to set a new record and, possibly, we will also have a record for female participation in the popular event. At the moment, we are around 33% registered women, the highest figure achieved so far in this race.”

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In the men’s category, refugee athlete from South Sudan living in Switzerland Dominic Lobalu will battle it out with Olympic athletes and European medalists, among them Spanish Ilias Fifa and Abdesamad Oukhelfen.

Berihu Aregawi is the record holder of the men’s event, with his 12:49 time coming in 2021 - not surprisingly, at Cursa dels Nassos!