Ethiopian runner Yomif Kejelcha broke the men’s half-marathon record on Sunday. He finished in Valencia, Spain, with a time of 57 minutes, 30 seconds. This time is one second faster than the previous record. That record was set in 2021 by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon, Portugal.
Kejelcha is a former world championship silver medalist in the 10,000 meters. He also holds the indoor world record for the mile, set in Boston in 2019.
Kejelcha’s record will need to be ratified by World Athletics before it is official.
This was the second consecutive time the record was broken by just one second. Kiplimo’s record was also one second faster than Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie’s time set in Valencia a year earlier.
In the women’s half-marathon, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich fell short of a world record. She missed Letesenbet Gidey’s mark of 1 hour, 2 minutes, 52 seconds by 11 seconds. Gidey set her record in Valencia in 2021.
World Athletics noted that Ngetich’s time was the second-fastest in history. This was her first half-marathon after being a finalist in the 10,000 meters last year.
