TOKYO2025: Beatrice Chebet basks in World Athletics Championships acclaim

A superstar like Beatrice Chebet deserved every deafening roar she received as the World Athletics Championships got underway in the Japanese capital.

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Four years ago, the Tokyo Olympic Stadium was shrouded in silence as athletes competed behind closed doors during the pandemic.

Chebet, then still waiting to make her senior international debut, watched from afar.

This time, at just 25, she stepped onto the same stage and delivered a moment that was both bittersweet and historic, ending Kenya’s decade-long wait for a gold medal in the women’s 10,000 metres.

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The World Championships cannot erase that lost Olympic experience, but the opening night in Tokyo offered more than consolation.

And in Chebet, fans witnessed the rise of their first true star of the week.

For years, Ethiopia held a stranglehold on the longest track distance, even sweeping the podium in Budapest two years ago.

But Chebet’s performance confirmed her as a force of her own.

After completing the distance double in Paris last summer, she underlined her greatness by claiming her maiden World Championship title.

TOKYO2025: Indefatigable Beatrice Chebet earns Kenya first gold at World Championships

Her triumph came exactly a decade after Vivian Cheruiyot last won the crown in Beijing, a fact that even caught her by surprise.

“Ten years later? I didn’t know that,” she admitted with a smile.

“Coming to Tokyo, I told myself, ‘Beatrice, you have to go for it.’ I didn’t have a World Champs gold, and now I do. I’ve won cross-country, I’m an Olympic champion, and now I’m a world champ. I’m so happy for myself."

“I want to thank everyone who has supported me, my coach, my family, Athletics Kenya, the Ministry, and Kenyans at large. Your support means everything to me. I’m standing here as a world champion, and I’m so proud.”

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A Race to Remember

The final itself was greeted by the loudest roars of the evening.

Chebet held off Italy’s Nadia Battocletti and defending champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia after a tense final lap.

Battocletti, the Olympic silver medallist, threatened on the home straight, but Chebet dug deep, unleashing one final devastating kick to seal victory.

It was a familiar script as last summer in Paris, she also beat Battocletti, as well as compatriot Faith Kipyegon, in the 5000m.

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Chebet’s focus now turns to the 5000m, where she hopes to join an exclusive club.

Only two women, Tirunesh Dibaba in 2005 and Vivian Cheruiyot in 2011, have completed the 10,000m–5000m double at a single World Championships.

But Chebet knows what stands in her way.

Chief among them is her close friend and training partner, Faith Kipyegon, a triple Olympic 1500m champion.

“It will not be an easy race. Even today, it wasn’t easy; you have to be strong mentally, physically, everything,” Chebet said.

“In the 5000m, my target is to be on the podium and hopefully with gold again."

“We are friends with Faith, and when we come to the track, it’s about teamwork.

We even assisted each other with Agnes [Jebet Ngetich, who finished fourth] today.

If Faith wins, I will celebrate her. If I win, she will celebrate me. That’s how our sport is, you celebrate your colleagues. Today was my turn, tomorrow it could be someone else’s.”

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Whatever happens in the 5000m final, Chebet’s 10,000m triumph has already set the tone for these Championships.

For Kenya, it marked a long-awaited return to dominance. For Chebet, it was the crowning of a champion.