Ethiopian runner Yomif Kejelcha made every second count as he broke the men’s half marathon record by just one second on Sunday.
Kejelcha finished strongly in the Spanish city of Valencia, setting a time of 57 minutes and 30 seconds, beating a single second faster than the record set in 2021 by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon, Portugal.
Kejelcha is a former world championship silver medalist in the 10,000 meters and holder of the world indoor record for the mile, which he set in Boston in 2019. He finished sixth in the 10,000 meters final at the Paris Olympics earlier this year, according to the BBC.
Eva Manez / REUTERS
Like all athletics records, Kejelcha’s will be subject to ratification procedures before World Athletics considers it official.
“This race was not easy,” Kejelcha said, according to World Athletics. “Today I told myself I had to do it in 57 minutes, and I saw from the lead car’s clock that it was possible, despite the rain. I wanted to break the world record and I’m very happy I did it. “
It was the second time in a row that the record was improved by such a small margin. When Kiplimo set his record, the time was one second faster than that of Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie a year earlier in Valencia.
Eva Manez / REUTERS
For a while it looked like a world record might also be set in the women’s half marathon on Sunday, but Kenyan Agnes Ngetich missed 11 seconds as she chased Letesenbet Gidey’s mark of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 52 seconds. Gidey also set her record in Valencia, in 2021.
World Athletics said it was the second-fastest time in history. It was the first time that Ngetich, last year’s finalist in the world championship in the 10,000, rode the half marathon.
“I am very happy and so proud that I achieved the second fastest time ever on my debut,” Ngetich said, according to World Atheltics. “Valencia will always have a special place in my heart because it was here that I set my world record in the 10 km.”
