Ugandan takes 49 seconds off Yomif Kejelcha’s world record in Barcelona as world 20km race walk record also falls
Jacob Kiplimo sliced 49 seconds off the world half-marathon record in Barcelona on Sunday (Feb 16) with an incredible 56:41. In such form, he can smash the world marathon record on his debut over 26.2 miles in London this spring.
Racing at the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona by Brooks, the 24-year-old smashed Yomif Kejelcha’s record of 57:30. En route he also set a world best for 15km of 39:47.
Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya was second in 58:44 ahead of Samuel Mailu of Kenya with 59:40 with Marc Scott the leading Brit with 61:00.
Kiplimo
Kiplimo is a former world record-holder for the half-marathon with 57:31 set in Lisbon in 2021. He also won the world half-marathon title in 2020 and world cross-country crowns in 2023 and 2024, whereas on the track his best times are 12:40.96 for 5000m and 26:33.93 for 10,000m.
Yomif Kejelcha (right) and Jacob Kiplimo (Getty)
Ever since Moses Tanui became the first man to break the one-hour barrier in Milan in 1993, the world half-marathon record has continued to tumble.
Haile Gebrselassie became the first man to run inside 59 minutes when he clocked 58:55 in Tempe in 2006. Geoffrey Kamworor came within a second of breaking the 58 minutes in Copenhagen in 2019 but the following year Kibiwott Kandie crashed through the barrier as he stormed to 57:32 in Valencia.
Kiplimo then took a second off that record in 2021 before Kejelcha ran 57:30 in Valencia last October. And now Kiplimo has enjoyed a quantum leap by taking the record well inside 57 minutes.
“I am very excited about what I did today,” said Kiplimo. “I started strong, I wanted to have a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record. I started very strong in the first two kilometers to escape my rivals. As the kilometers passed and I saw that I was going at a record pace, I told myself that I had to maintain that pace no matter what it took.”
The women’s race was also fast in Barcelona with Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya winning in a course record of 64:13.
The now former world record-holder Kejelcha, meanwhile, was also in action on Sunday with 26:30 for 10km in Castellón to go No.2 on the world all-time rankings.
It has been quite some week for world records with Jakob Ingebrigtsen setting world mile and 1500m indoor marks in Lievin, Yared Nuguse clocking a short-lived mile record in New York, and Grant Fisher running 3000m and 5000m records in New York and Boston.
Toshikazu Yamanishi (Mark Shearman)
There was a world record in the men’s 20km race walk, too, with Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi clocking 76:10 in Kobe on Sunday.
Yamanishi, a two-time world champion, improved the previous world record of 76:36 set by fellow Japanese racewalker Yusuke Suzuki in Nomi in 2015 by 26 seconds.
The two–time world cross-country champion, who had previously held the half marathon record between 2021 and 2024, reclaimed the record by slashing an impressive 49 Seconds off Kejelcha’s time. Kiplimo expressed his excitement about his achievement, stating, “ I started strong, I wanted to have a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record.
As the kilometers passed he was on pace to break the record. Kiplimo reclaimed focused and determined, telling himself, “ I had to maintain that pace no matter what it took.’’
What He Said After The Race:
Per World Athletics: “It has been the perfect race. Ideal temperature, no wind at all, fantastic circuit – everything
went better than expected. The pacemaker set the agreed 2:45 pace but I found myself full of energy and decided to
inject a brisker rhythm from the third kilometer, I never imagined performing under the 57-minute barrier, that’s
astonishing. I won’t compete anymore until my marathon debut in London on 27 April.”
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