Jacob Kiplimo breaks half marathon world record in Barcelona

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo broke the half marathon world record on Sunday, becoming the first athlete to register a sub-57 minutes timing.

The 24-year-old Kiplimo, a two-time world cross country champion, finished the Barcelona Half Marathon in 56 minutes and 42 seconds to break the previous record of 57 minutes and 30 seconds set by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia last year.

Kiplimo’s timing is subject to the usual ratification procedure.

Kiplimo held the world record between 2021 and 2024 before Kejelcha’s run in Spain. However, the Ugandan reclaimed the same in Spain itself with a spectacular performance.

Racing in ideal weather conditions of 13 degrees celsius with no wind, Kiplimo also set a world best of 39:47 for 15km en route to the half marathon record.

“I am very excited about what I did today,” said Kiplimo, who made his Olympic debut in the 5,000m in Rio when he was just 15.

“I started strong, I wanted to have a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record.

“As the kilometres passed and I saw that I was going at record pace, I told myself that I had to maintain that pace no matter what it took.”

(With inputs from AFP)