Jacob Kiplimo ripped up the record books and set the fastest half marathon in history with a stunning victory at the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona on Sunday.
The Ugandan took advantage of ideal weather conditions to storm to victory in just 56 minutes and 42 seconds, making him the first runner to go under 57 minutes for the half-marathon distance.
Kiplimo’s time smashed the previous record of 57:30, set by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia last year, with the performance the greatest single improvement on the world record ever recorded.
The 24-year-old also set a world best of 40:07 for 15km on his way to a history-making victory, where he finished over two minutes clear of closest challenger Geoffrey Kamworor.
“I am very excited about what I did today,” said Kiplimo, the former 10,000m Olympic and World Championships bronze medallist.
“I wanted to have a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record!”
Kiplimo immediately took control in the opening kilometres and was already on world record pace by the time he reached 5km in 13:34, putting him nearly 20 seconds clear of the field, then continued to improve to pass the 10km checkpoint in 26:46.
He pulled further ahead over the following kilometres, passing the 20km mark in 53:42 to complete another 26:46 10km section, with Kiplimo closing out a dominant win to regain the world record he set in Lisbon back in 2021.
Jacob Kiplimo finished in a time of 56:42, the first person to ever go sub-57 for a half marathon
“It has been the perfect race,” Kiplimo added. “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 kilometre, but I never imagined to perform under the 57-minute barrier, that’s astonishing.”
Kiplimo confirmed after his victory that he won’t race again until the TCS London Marathon on April 27, where he will make his debut as part of a star-studded field that contains four-time winner Eliud Kipchoge.
