Beatrice Chebet wrote a new chapter in Kenyan history on Friday night at the Stade de France, as the first Kenyan female Olympic champion in 10,000.
The 24-year-old world record holder held off fierce opposition from Italian Nadia Batocletti in the last 100-meter dash, to claim gold in a time of 30:43.25 for the 25-lap event.
Kenya’s best performance in the event at the Olympics before yesterday’s victory was a silver medal in 2012 London via Sally Kipyego followed by Vivian Cheruiyot’s silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
In the distance, Italy’s first silver medal at the Olympics went to Batocletti, the reigning European champion, who finished 0.010 seconds behind Chebet.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands had to settle for another bronze in Paris, stopping the clock with an S.B. time of 30:44.12.
Chebet, who had won the 5,000m earlier this week, now solidifies her status as the Queen of the track long-distance event with her second individual gold on Friday.
The gold propelled Kenya to 25th in the medal table with 2 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze medals.
Kenya might achieve an all-time high and break its own record of six gold medals if it wins both of the marathons (1500 m for women, 800 m for men, and 5,000 m for men).
