Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei spent much of his coronavirus-induced lockdown painting a primary school and helping out in his grandparents' vegetable patch in his homeland.
But a relatively quick easing down on restrictions by the Ugandan government in June meant Cheptegei could get serious with his training under coach Addy Ruiter, and on Friday, he showed how successful that had been.
Metronomic pacing and perfect conditions at the Stade Louis II saw the 23-year-old light up the Monaco Diamond League, the first regular top-flight international one-day meet since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cheptegei wiped almost two seconds off Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele's 16-year-old world record time over the 5,000m as he clocked an astonishing 12min 35.35sec.
"I've learned that anything is possible, if you have the right mindset and believe," the Ugandan said.
Remarkably, Friday's outing was Cheptegei's first competitive appearance since February, when he smashed the world 5km road record, also in Monaco.
Those two world records in a COVID-hit season followed an outstanding 2019 when he secured not only the world cross country title in Denmark, but also the world 10,000m title at the Doha world championships.
