Race winner Jacob Kiplimo breaks the world file on the eDreams Mitja Marato de Barcelona, on Sunday in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Lorena Sopena/Europa Press by way of Getty Photos
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Lorena Sopena/Europa Press by way of Getty Photos
Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda ran with a vengeance in Barcelona on Sunday — masterfully reclaiming the half marathon world file after the title was taken from him final 12 months.
“What a day!” he wrote on Instagram. “Right now every little thing has been excellent, the course, the climate and naturally myself.”
Kiplimo, 24, completed in 56:42 on the 2025 Barcelona Half Marathon — shattering the previous half marathon record of 57:30 set by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha final 12 months in Valencia. On the time, Kejelcha had narrowly crushed Kiplimo’s 2021 file by only one second.
In Barcelona, Kiplimo considerably outpaced Kejelcha’s file by a powerful 48 seconds, marking the “biggest single enchancment on the lads’s world half marathon file,” according to World Athletics.
To take action, Kiplimo was averaging about 13.86 miles per hour, or a mile each 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
Kenyan long-distance runner Geoffrey Kamworor took second, ending almost two minutes after Kiplimo with a time of 58:44. Samwel Mailu, additionally from Kenya, secured third, clocking in at 59:40.
Kiplimo is the son of two farmers from Kween, a rural district in japanese Uganda. To get to highschool, Kiplimo would run over 3 miles at an altitude of 6,200 toes, World Athletics reported.
He entered aggressive operating via his older brothers, who had been additionally athletes. “To my thoughts, I stated: ‘I need to be like them,'” he informed World Athletics.
His first official race was in 2015, the place he took first place in a variety trial for the World Mountain Working Championships. Afterward, he moved to Italy to coach below a brand new coach.
Two years later, Kiplimo returned to Uganda to compete within the World Cross Nation Championships. There, 1000’s of Ugandans cheered on as he stormed to victory and claimed gold, based on a World Athletics profile. The win made Kiplimo a hometown hero. After that, he determined to remain in Uganda somewhat than prepare in Italy.
Kiplimo is a two-time world cross nation champion. He earned a bronze medal within the males’s 10,000 meters on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. His marathon debut will probably be this April in London.
On Sunday, Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya received the ladies’s race in Barcelona, attaining a private better of 1:04:13.
