Kejelcha takes 1 second off half-marathon record

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha broke the men’s half-marathon world record on Sunday, finishing in 57 minutes, 30 seconds at the Medio Maraton de Valencia in Spain to shave one second off the previous mark.

The 27-year-old Kejelcha, running his sixth half-marathon, settled in behind the pacemakers from the start before making his move around the three-kilometer mark.

Kejelcha, who set the world indoor mile record in 2019 and is a former world championship silver medalist in the 10,000 meters, broke away from Kenyans Daniel Mateiko and Isaia Kipkoech to win the race in record time.

The previous record was set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in 2021.

It briefly seemed there could be a world record in the women’s half-marathon too, but Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich missed out by 11 seconds while chasing Letesenbet Gidey’s mark of 1:02:52. World Athletics said it was the second-fastest time in history. It was the first time that Ngetich, a world championship finalist last year in the 10,000, had raced the half-marathon.

Like all track and field records, Kejelcha’s will be subject to ratification procedures before World Athletics considers it official.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.