A Ugandan distance runner made history on Sunday when he crossed the finish line in Portugal with a new world record for the half marathon.
Jacob Kiplimo, 25, completed the 13.1-mile race in Lisbon in an impressive 57 minutes and 20 seconds, breaking the previous world record by 10 seconds. The former record belonged to Ethiopian runner Yomif Kejelcha, who set it in Valencia in 2024.
This marks a return to the top for Kiplimo, who previously held the world record in 2021 when he ran 57:31 on the identical Lisbon course.
Last year in Barcelona, Kiplimo posted an even faster time of 56:42, but World Athletics officials did not recognize that performance as official due to violations involving illegal pacing assistance.
Two Kenyan athletes rounded out the top three finishers, though they were well behind Kiplimo’s record-setting pace. Nicholas Kipkorir took second place with a time of 58:08, while Gilbert Kiprotich claimed third in 58:59.
Following his historic run, Kiplimo expressed his excitement about the achievement. “I’m so happy to break the world record,” Kiplimo said. “After the first 10km, I thought the world record was possible. I tried to keep pushing the pace in the final two kilometres.”
