Ugandan Kiplimo smashes men's half-marathon world record in under 57 minutes
Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo celebrates his world record of 7 minutes and 26.64 seconds after winning the men's 3000m competition at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea IAAF Diamond League athletics meet in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. Credit: AP/Gregorio Borgia
BARCELONA, Spain — Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo set a men's half-marathon word record on Sunday and also became the first runner to go under 57 minutes.
The 24-year-old Kiplimo set a time of 56 minutes, 41 seconds at a road race in Barcelona, smashing the previous record of 57:30 by Ethiopian distance runner Yomif Kejelcha last year in the Spanish city of Valencia.
World Athletics said it was the greatest single improvement on the men’s half-marathon record, and that Kiplimo benefited from ideal weather conditions of 13 degrees Celsius (55 Fahrenheit) with no wind.
Kiplimo won a bronze medal in 10,000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
