Kenyan athletes Faith Kipyegon, Margaret Chelimo, and Beatrice Chebet have all advanced to the finals of the Olympic 5000-meter race.
In the first heat, Kipyegon secured victory with a time of 14:57.56, while Chelimo finished fourth, clocking in at 14:40.38.
Chebet led the second heat, finishing with a time of 15:00.73 to qualify for the final.
The trio will compete against top contenders such as Sifan Hassan, Nadia Battocletti, Gudaf Tsegay, Ejgayehu Taye, Elise Cranny, and Karissa Schweizer in the Olympic final.
Heading into the final, Kipyegon, Gudaf Tsegay, and Beatrice Chebet have each broken world records across various distances over the past 12 months, and they have also won global titles during that time frame.
With defending champion Sifan Hassan set to compete as well, an exhilarating clash is expected in Paris.
Gudaf Tsegay, the bronze medalist in this distance at the Tokyo Olympics, broke Kipyegon’s world 5000m record with a time of 14:00.21 at the Diamond League Final in Eugene last year, just weeks after winning the world 10,000m title.
The Ethiopian has raced only twice this year but set personal bests in both, clocking 3:50.30 over 1500m in Xiamen and 29:05.92 over 10,000m in Eugene.
Kipyegon, who will be competing in both the 1500m and 5000m in Paris, is a two-time Olympic 1500m champion.
