Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo broke the half marathon world record on Sunday, becoming the first athlete to register a sub-57 minute. He finished the Barcelona half marathon in 56 minutes and 42 seconds and broke the previous record of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha's 57 minutes and 30 seconds in Valencia last year.
“I am very excited about what I did today. I started strong, I wanted to have a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record,” said Kiplimo. “I started very strong in the first two kilometres to get away from my rivals. 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." He said
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Career Achievements
The athlete's outstanding athletic career as a Uganda national demonstrates how junior successes evolved into global recognition. Following their bronze win in the 2016 World U20 Championships the athlete demonstrated they had entered the distance running world as an imposing contender. The breakthrough of 2017 brought victory to the Junior category during the Kampala World Cross Country Championships. The athlete demonstrated his versatility by running well in both 5,000m events and half marathons. The athlete won the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia with a historic time of 58:49 to mark the beginning of their golden running years from 2020 up to 2023.
At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games the athlete achieved dual gold victory by breaking the record in the 10,000m race at the same time as winning the 5000m event. Her road racing achievements match the success of track running when she won the Great Manchester Run, Lisbon Half Marathon and 2023 New York City Half Marathon competitions. His achievements throughout various competitions stand out as he consistently placed on podiums including bronze from the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and gold from the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst.