Teen phenom Rhonex Kipruto just misses 10km world record in Prague
Kenyan 18-year-old Rhonex Kipruto ran the second quickest-ever road 10km, while his compatriot Caroline Kipkirui moved to third on the women's world all-time list at the Birell Prague Grand Prix on Saturday evening.
Kipruto – who was third in Prague last year in 27:13 and then ran 27:08 in New York before claiming the world under-20 10,000m title in Tampere – clocked 26:46 for a dominant win. It was a Kenyan top three as Geoffrey Koech ran 27:18 in second and Mathew Kimeli 27:26 in third.
A total of 11 athletes dipped inside 28 minutes.
The women's race was much closer and Kipkirui won in 30:19 ahead of Fancy Chemutai (30:22) and Diana Chemtai Kipyokei (30:23) to complete another Kenyan clean sweep.
Running alone with his opponents rapidly dropping back, Kipruto went through 5km in 13:31 before clocking a negative split of 13:15 to take 22 seconds off his PB.
Only his compatriot Leonard Komon has run a faster time with his world record 26:44 set in 2010.
In the women's race, Kipkirui’s time makes her the third fastest woman in history over 10km behind Joyciline Jepkosgei and Chemutai.
The fastest among Czech runners were Jakub Zemaník (29:30) and Eva Vrabcová Nývltová (33:57).
Britain's Emelia Gorecka was also among the athletes to impress as she clocked 33:41 for a top-10 spot on her 10km road debut.
Ross Millington placed 16th in a PB of 28:40, while Luke Traynor was 18th in 29:22.
