Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet will temporarily shift from her long-distance dominance to test herself in the 1,500m at this weekend’s Silesia Diamond League, where she faces a formidable Ethiopian challenge from Gudaf Tsegay and Diribe Welteji.
Chebet has spent the past two seasons making athletics history. In May 2024, she obliterated the women’s 10,000m world record at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 28:54.14 to become the first woman to break the 29-minute barrier.
She carried that form to the Paris Olympics, pulling off a historic double with gold medals in the 5,000m (14:28.56) and 10,000m (30:43.25). The 2025 season has been equally remarkable.
In July, she shattered the 5,000m world record at the Prefontaine Classic with 13:58.06, becoming the first woman to run under 14 minutes over the distance and reclaiming the mark from Tsegay, who had held it at 14:00.21.
However, the 1,500m remains largely uncharted territory for the Kenyan star on the global stage. She made her debut in the distance at an Athletics Kenya meet in Mumias in 2019, clocking 4:23.2. She went on to win the 2023 national title in 4:06.56 before finishing fifth at the World Championships trials in 4:10.17.
This year, Chebet has already displayed her versatility. She opened her Diamond League campaign in Xiamen in April with a 14:27.12 victory in the 5,000m, then broke the African 3,000m record in Rabat with 8:11.56 — the second-fastest time in history and just five seconds shy of Junxia Wang’s 1993 world record. She later won the 5,000m at the Rome Golden Gala in 14:03.69 before her record-breaking run in Eugene.
Her most recent race came at the Kenyan World Championships trials on July 22, where she finished third in the 10,000m (30:27.52) behind Janeth Chepng’etich (30:27.02) and Agnes Ng’etich (30:27.38). Afterward, Chebet expressed confidence in the Kenyan team’s prospects in Tokyo, saying, “It was amazing running with Agnes and Janeth. We already feel like a team ready to conquer Tokyo.”
In Silesia, she will face Tsegay — the third-fastest woman in history over 1,500m — who opened her 2025 season by winning the World Indoor title in Nanjing in 3:58.86 and later claimed victory in Zagreb in 3:58.14.
Welteji, the 2018 World U-20 800m champion, has also been in top form this season, securing 1,500m wins in Kingston (4:04.51) and Philadelphia (3:58.04), and finishing second at the Prefontaine Classic in 3:51.44.
The stacked field will also feature Britain’s Georgia Bell, American Nikki Hiltz and Ireland’s Sarah Healy.
