Daniel Simiu Ebenyo’s stock has continued to rise since he set a new 28:28 course record to win the men’s title at the Okpekpe International 10km Road Race in Okpekpe, Edo State last May.
The 27-year-old on Friday ran a new 26:57.80 lifetime best in the 10,000m at the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meeting in Brussels, Belgium to become
only the third man in 2023 to run inside 27 minutes and the 72nd in history.
Since he made history in Okpekpe, Ebenyo made good his vow to make the podium at World Athletics’ flagship event, the World Championships in Budapest,
Hungary.
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He ran 27:52.60 to win the silver medal in the 10,000m – his first ever world medal after placing fourth over the 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in 2022 and sixth in the senior race at the World Cross Country championships in Bathurst, Australia in February.
Ebenyo was delighted to finally break the 27-minute barrier and said post-race that it was a dream come true.
“It feels so good to win here tonight. The crowd was very good tonight and that definitely helped me. It was very hot and a lot of athletes suffered but I felt very good and this is what I trained for. I am so thankful and I thank God that I finally ran such a good time,” he said.
