Gidey and Kiplimo’s World Half Marathon Records Have Been Confirmed

Gidey and Kiplimo’s World Half Marathon Records Have Been Confirmed

World Athletics has officially confirmed the women’s world half marathon and the men’s half marathon records.

The women’s half marathon record was broken by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey at Valencia on 24th October 2021 in 1:02.52.

The men’s half marathon record was also set by Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda at Lisbon on 21st November 2021 in 57:31.

Both records were set last year, 2021.

Women’s world half marathon record (mixed race)
1:02:52 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) – Valencia 24 October 2021

Men’s world half marathon record
57:31 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) – Lisbon 21 November 2021

The world half marathon marks set by Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia and Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda last year have been confirmed.

Gidey raced 1:02:52 in her first half marathon, the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, on October 24, while Kiplimo ran 57:31 in the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on November 21.

Gidey, competing in the same Spanish city where she had broken the world 5000m record in 2020, took 70 seconds off the previous world half marathon record of 1:04:02 set by Kenya’s world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich in Istanbul on 4 April 2021.

As a result, 23-year-old Gidey became the first woman to officially break the 64- and 63-minute barriers for the half marathon. She was also the first debutante to set a world record for the distance.

“I knew I could run this kind of time as my training sessions in the altitude of Addis Abeba have gone very well,” said Gidey, the Olympic bronze medallist and world silver medallist over 10,000m. “In future I’m thinking of competing at the marathon distance but I’m not sure that will come before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or later.”

Kiplimo won his race by more than two minutes less than a month later, shaving one second off the previous world record set by Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie in Valencia on December 6, 2020.

Kiplimo was on track to break the record after reaching the 10km mark in 27:05, and his 15km split time of 40:27 was the quickest ever recorded for the race.

“With one kilometre to go, I knew that I was going to break the world record,” said Kiplimo, the Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist. “When I was on the final straight and saw the clock, I gave it all I had and told myself I had to sprint fast to reach the finish line.”

World Athletics