Uganda&rsquo;s Jacob Kiplimo scripted history on Sunday (Feb 16) by becoming the first person to slice the 57-minute barrier for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/tags/half-marathon">half-marathon</a>, setting a remarkable new world record of 56 minutes and 42 seconds in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/tags/barcelona">Barcelona</a>.
The 24-year-old, a two-time world cross-country champion, reclaimed the half-marathon record by cutting 48 seconds off the previous mark of 57:30 set by Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia last October. Kiplimo had previously held the half-marathon world record from 2021 to 2024.
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Kiplimo&rsquo;s strength in the half-marathon's midsection had already been proven. In 2024, he set the world record for the road 15k with a time of 40:42 in Nijmegen, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/tags/netherlands">Netherlands</a>. Notably, during his 2021 half-marathon world record run of 57:31, he clocked a 40:27 15k split.
See the post here:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
What just happened? 🤯 🇺🇬&rsquo;s Jacob Kiplimo smashes the half marathon world record, flying to 56:42 at the Barcelona Half Marathon 🚀 📸Daniel Meumann for <a href="https://t.co/eAHK0L0xXB">https://t.co/eAHK0L0xXB</a> *Subject to usual ratification procedures <a href="https://t.co/rNfhQxjOJc">pic.twitter.com/rNfhQxjOJc</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1891047509834809517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2025</a></blockquote>

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On Sunday, Kiplimo surpassed even that achievement, hitting 15k at 40:07 as he ran solo through Barcelona in the latter half of the race. The conditions were ideal&mdash;13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit) with no wind&mdash;and he took full advantage, setting a world best of 39:47 for 15km en route to his half-marathon triumph.
<h2>'Didn't expect to break world record'</h2>
The improvement marks the greatest single advance on the men&rsquo;s world half-marathon record. &ldquo;I am very excited about what I did today,&rdquo; said Kiplimo, who made his Olympic debut in the 5,000m in Rio at just 15 years old.
"I started strong, I wanted to have a great race, but I didn&rsquo;t expect to break the world record," he said. "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 agencies)

Sports, Olympics: The 24-year-old, a two-time world cross-country champion, reclaimed the half-marathon record by slicing 48 seconds off the previous mark of 57:30

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo scripted history on Sunday (Feb 16) by becoming the first person to slice the 57-minute barrier for the half-marathon, setting a remarkable new world record of 56 minutes and 42 seconds in Barcelona. The 24-year-old, a two-time world cross-country champion, reclaimed the half-marathon record by cutting 48 seconds off the previous mark of 57:30 set by Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia last October. Kiplimo had previously held the half-marathon world record from 2021 to 2024. Also Read: Premier League: Tottenham beat Manchester United in battle of strugglers Kiplimo’s strength in the half-marathon's midsection had already been proven. In 2024, he set the world record for the road 15k with a time of 40:42 in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Notably, during his 2021 half-marathon world record run of 57:31, he clocked a 40:27 15k split. See the post here: What just happened? 🤯 🇺🇬’s Jacob Kiplimo smashes the half marathon world record, flying to 56:42 at the Barcelona Half Marathon 🚀 📸Daniel Meumann for https://t.co/eAHK0L0xXB *Subject to usual ratification procedures pic.twitter.com/rNfhQxjOJc — World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) February 16, 2025 On Sunday, Kiplimo surpassed even that achievement, hitting 15k at 40:07 as he ran solo through Barcelona in the latter half of the race. The conditions were ideal—13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit) with no wind—and he took full advantage, setting a world best of 39:47 for 15km en route to his half-marathon triumph. 'Didn't expect to break world record' The improvement marks the greatest single advance on the men’s world 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 at just 15 years old. "I started strong, I wanted to have a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record," he said. "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 agencies)

Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo shatters half-marathon world record in Barcelona

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Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo shatters half-marathon world record in Barcelona