ANKARA

Ugandan runner Joshua Cheptegei on Sunday smashed a world record in 5-kilometer run (3.1 miles), finishing the contest in 12 minutes and 51 seconds in Monaco. 

"What a season opener with an amazing 5Km world record time of 12:51. Thank you @monacorun for having me," 23-year-old Cheptegei said on Instagram.

The previous record holder was Kenyan athlete Rhonex Kipruto, who finished 5-kilometer run in 13 minutes and 18 seconds at January's 10K Valencia Ibercaja.

In October 2019, Cheptegei bagged a gold medal in the IAAF World Athletics Championships men's 10,000 meters held in Qatar.

He joined the 2016 Summer Olympics for 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter run but couldn’t win any medal in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.