The Ethiopian is an Olympic 10,000m silver medallist and places fifth on the global all-time list over 25 laps
Berihu Aregawi, the Olympic 10,000m silver medallist from Paris, will make his much anticipated half-marathon debut in Lisbon next month (March 9).
The Ethiopian, who has a personal best of 26:31.13 in the 10,000m, is currently fifth on the global all-time list over 25 laps.
Given Aregawi is also the world 5km record-holder – he ran 12:49 in Barcelona four years ago – it’ll be intriguing to see how quick he can go in the half-marathon.
Some of the 23-year-old’s competitors on the track have already gained experience over 13.1 miles, including Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, who beat Aregawi to the Olympic 10,000m gold medal last summer.
Cheptegei’s one and only half-marathon took place five years ago, when he ran 59:21 in Gdynia, Poland.
Olympic 10,000m final (Getty)
Although the world 10,000m record-holder hasn’t yet quite mastered the half-marathon/marathon, other distance running athletes that have won major track medals have performed well on the roads.
The most recent example is Cheptegei’s compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, who set a world half-marathon record of 56:42 at the Barcelona Half (February 16).
Not only did Kiplimo take an incredible 48 seconds off Yomif Kejelcha’s world record, he also became the first human in history to run a sub-57 minute half-marathon.
Kiplimo and Kejelcha have respective 10km bests of 26:48 and 26:37, in comparison to Aregawi’s 26:33.
Given Kiplimo and Kejelcha have excelled in the half-marathon, Aregawi should therefore be confident of recording a quick time when he makes his debut over 13.1 miles.
Jacob Kiplimo (Daniel Meumann for Sportmedia.es)
If Aregawi has any ambition of challenging Kiplimo’s 56:42, then he will have to first beat the Ugandan’s course record in Lisbon, which stands at 57:31 from 2021.
That mark is still the third quickest half-marathon time in history, emphasising that Lisbon is also a remarkably quick course and one where records can be broken.
The pair have also competed against each other on multiple occasions, including in last year’s Olympic 10,000m final, where Aregawi and Kiplimo placed second and eighth respectively.
More recently, Aregawi beat Kiplimo at last December’s San Silvestre Vallecana 10km, edging out his rival by just a second in Madrid.
They also finished first and second in the senior race at last year’s World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, with Kiplimo coming out on top by three seconds.
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