BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 24– Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha took 29 seconds off the men’s half marathon world record at a World Athletics road race here on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Kejelcha clocked a winning time of 56 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the previous record of 57:20 set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in March, pending ratification. “I’m over the moon,” said Kejelcha. “I’m super happy and right now I don’t feel any tiredness. The travel from Ethiopia was too long and I was tired the first days here, but later I felt better and today I was full of beans.” Kejelcha, who set a world record of 57:30 in Valencia in October 2024, has now regained the world record. Kejelcha is also the second-fastest marathon runner in history, with a personal best of 1:59:41, just 11 seconds shy of the world record held by Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe.
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