Letesenbet Gidey smashes 10,000m world record as 'super spikes' grab headlines again ahead of Tokyo 2020

Updated 09/06/2021 at 09:27 GMT

Letesenbet Gidey smashed the 10,000m record by more than five seconds. The world record was set by Sifan Hassan just two days earlier on the same track, as super spikes continue to drastically alter the world of athletics. Gidey was far from surprised by her remarkable time. "I’d like to try to break the world record again and break 29 minutes."

Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia celebrates winning silver in the Women's 10,000 Metres final during day two of 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019

Image credit: Getty Images

Letesenbet Gidey smashed the 10,000m record just two days after Sifan Hassan set a new standard on the same Hengelo track.

Super spikes appear to be drastically altering athletics as we know, with experts claiming the shoes improve performance by between half a second and a second a lap.

The 23-year-old ran 29:01:03, bettering Hassan’s record by more than five seconds and Gidey admitted she was massively confident she would continue the trend of mind-boggling track times after Hassan’s showing earlier this week.

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Watch Letesenbet Gidey break 5,000m world record

“I expected to run a world record,” the Ethiopian said.

I’d like to try to break the world record again and break 29 minutes.

Gidey also became the first woman to hold both the 5,000m and 10,000m world records since Norwegian great Ingrid Kristiansen.

No one ran within 20 seconds of the previous world record of 29:13, set by Chinese athlete Wang Junxia until it was broken in 2016 by Ethiopan Almaz Ayana, a feat which prompted more questions than adulation.

Super spikes are now grabbing the headlines with World Athletics attempting to clamp down on the use of the shoes.

A limit has been set on the use of plates and soles of track spikes can be no thicker than 30mm. Those rules in 2019 though have not stopped the world of athletics being flooded with super spikes and world records continue to fall.

Men’s and women’s 5km, 10km and half marathon have all seen new records set by runners in super shoes.