Uganda's athlete Joshua Cheptegei set a new 10km road world record in the Spanish port city of Valencia on Sunday, beating the previous record set by Kenyan Leonard Komon.

The 23-year-old runner clocked 26 minutes 38 seconds at the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso, improving Komon's 2010 mark by six seconds.

The feat was a perfect close to a positive year for the Ugandan, having won the IAAF World Cross Championships in Denmark in March. He was also crowned 10,000m world champion in Doha in September.

"What a year it has been. I can't believe it," the 23-year-old said after completing the memorable 2019 hat-trick.

"I knew that Valencia was going to be a really fast course, one of the fastest in the world. So to get to achieve what we came here for is something really special.

"This year has made me so happy.”