PARIS: Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo became the first person to break the 57-minute barrier as he obliterated the world half marathon record with a time of 56 minutes and 41 seconds at the World Athletics race in Barcelona on Sunday.

Racing in ideal weather conditions of 13 degrees celsius (55 degrees fahrenheit) with no wind, Kiplimo also set a world best of 39:47 for 15km en route to the half marathon record.

“It has been the perfect race. Ideal temperature, no wind at all, fantastic circuit — everything went better than expected,” Kiplimo said.

“I found myself full of energy and decided to inject a brisker rhythm from the third kilometre, but I never imagined to perform under the 57-minute barrier, that’s astonishing.”

Having previously held the half-marathon record from 2021 to 2024, The 24-year-old two-time world cross-country champion reclaimed the record by slashing 48 sec off the previous record of 57:30, set by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia in October.

“It is the greatest single improvement on the men’s world half marathon record,” World Athletics said on its website.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi broke the men’s 20 km race walk world record earlier at the Japanese Championships in Kobe on Sunday, beating the previous mark by 26 seconds.

Two-time world champion Yamanishi won the Japanese 20km Race Walking Championships with a timing of 1:16:10. The previous record of 1:16:36 was set in Nomi in 2015 by his compatriot Yusuke Suzuki.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025