On Saturday May 25, Beatrice Chebet made history by becoming the first woman to break the 10,000 meters world record with a victory in 28 minutes, 54 seconds, and 14 microseconds at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
Chebet cruised through the finish at Hayward Field as she beat the previous record of 29:01.03 set by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey in 2021 by seven seconds.
Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay became the third-fastest all-time performer with her runner-up finish of 29:05.92, as four women ran under 30 minutes.
Chebet now qualifies for Paris Olympic Games, where she plans to contest in both the 5000m and 10,000m races.
The 24-year-old not only secured an Olympics ticket and set a world record but will also receive a substantial monetary reward.
The Wanda Diamond League is athletics’ premier one-day series where athletes compete for points at 14 series meetings from May to September, with the most successful in each discipline qualifying for the League’s Final in Eugene (September 16th-17th).
Also Read: Beatrice Chebet: Kenyan Athlete Who Broke World 10,000m Record
At each of the 14 series meetings (6 men’s and 8 women’s), athletes are awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points for ranking 1st to 8th respectively.
Beatrice Chebet to Pocket Millions After Her World Record
The top six in the field events, top eight for 100m-800m and the top ten for 1500m and long-distance events will qualify for the Final.
Diamond League races offer a prize pool totaling $25,000 (Ksh3,312,500), with the winner receiving $10,000 (Ksh1,325,000), the second-place finisher earning $6,000 (Ksh795,000), and the third-place finisher taking home $3,500 (Ksh463,750).
Furthermore, cash rewards extend to eighth place, with the eighth-place finisher receiving $500 (Ksh66,250).
In addition to these prizes, there’s a larger reward of $50,000 (Ksh6,625,000), the minimum bonus awarded for breaking a world record.
This means that for her outstanding achievement, Chebet is guaranteed to receive at least $60,000 (Ksh7,950,000) from the race organizers for her exceptional performance.
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Furthermore, Chebet is likely to be recognized as one of the most consistent performers, qualifying her to share a $200,000 (Ksh26,500,000) prize at the end of the season, given her victory in the 5,000m at the Doha Diamond League on May 10.
Each champion is awarded a prestigious “Diamond Trophy”, US$ 30,000 (Ksh3,975,000) prize money and a wild card for the World Athletics Championships (certain conditions apply) at the end of the season.
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