Elite long-distance runner Jacob Kiplimo is still riding high in delight after his victory at the Chicago Marathon in Illinois, USA on Sunday.
The 24-year-old broke nearly every barrier apart from the world record (WR) as he won his first 42km competitive race with a new national record and personal best mark of two hours, two minutes and 23 seconds.
‘To come here to win the race is a big achievement for me,’ said Kiplimo after he became the first Ugandan to win a World Marathon Major (WMM) and he is also the seventh fastest man in history.
In part, he nearly broke the world record only before his quest faded in the closing miles of the race. Had it happened, he would have become the first man in history to hold both world records over the half-marathon and full marathon at the same time.
Kiplimo’s WR over the 21km came on February 16 when he became the first man to run the distance under 57 minutes by posting 56:42. This time however is yet to be ratified by World Athletics.
For the mark he broke – 57:30 by Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha – it was ratified by the sport’s global body this month.
Kejelcha won at the Medio Maratón de Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich on October 24, 2024 in Spain to erase Kiplimo’s earlier WR mark of 57:31 set in Lisbon, Portugal in 2021.
It took Kiplimo just 112 days to reclaim his WR mark from Kejelcha, underlining the proficiency of the Ugandan on the road.
In that queue after Kejelcha, Kiplimo’s 21km WR mark is the next for ratification.
MEN’S HALF-MARATHON
WORLD RECORD PROGRESSION
56:42* by Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) in Barcelona (ESP) on Feb 16, 2025
57:30 by Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) in Valencia (ESP) on Oct 27, 2024
57:31 by Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) in Lisbon (POR) on Nov 21, 2021
57:32 by Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) in Valencia (ESP) on Dec 6, 2020
58:01 by Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) in København (DEN) on Sep 15, 2019