Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda reclaimed the men’s half marathon world record on Sunday after winning a race in Lisbon with a time of 57 minutes and 20 seconds.
The performance shaved 10 seconds off the previous record set in 2024 by Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia. Kiplimo had previously held the record in 2021 before Kejelcha improved it by one second in Valencia.
Running without pacemakers, Kiplimo opened aggressively, covering the first 5 kilometres in 13:28 with Kenyan runners Nicholas Kipkorir and Gilbert Kiprotich close behind. The trio reached 10km in 27:00, but Kiprotich later dropped off the pace.
When the leaders passed 15km in 40:52, Kiplimo accelerated, completing the next 5km in 13:31 and maintaining the pace to the finish.
“After the first 10km, I thought the world record was possible. I tried to keep pushing the pace in the final two kilometres,” Kiplimo said after the race. Kipkorir finished 48 seconds behind, while Kiprotich placed third.
Kiplimo had previously run 56:42 in Barcelona last year, but World Athletics did not ratify the mark, saying race conditions did not fully comply with its rules.
In the women’s race, Ethiopian runner Tsige Gebreselama successfully defended her title with a time of 1:04:48.
Source: TRT Sports
