The Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha sets the half marathon world record in Valencia and in the rain

The Ethiopian athlete Yomif Kejelcha set a new Half Marathon world record this Sunday in Valencia by stopping the clock at 57.30 in a race that was held in the rain and in which he ran out of hares after three kilometers but in which, in an epic finale, achieved the best mark in the history of the distance.

The Ethiopian, after having left his last teammates behind with a brilliant sprint at kilometer 15, managed to lower in one second the 57.31 that Jacob Kiplimo established in Lisbon in 2021 to set a new record in a test consolidated as one of the best in the world. world.

The Ethiopian improved Jacob Kiplimo’s time by one second in Lisbon in 2021

With drizzle, very light wind and twelve degrees, the president of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, Juan Roig, pressed the button that started the first of the six exits into which the twenty-five thousand athletes participating in the event were divided. Five minutes later, Mayor María José Catalá gave the second.

As agreed, the hares firmly established the leading group by completing the first kilometer in 2 minutes and 44 seconds with the big favorites, Kejelcha and his compatriot Selemon Barega, comfortable behind them.

Kejelcha was going so strong that when they had passed less than four kilometers, the hares had ‘fallen’ from the leading group, a bad situation that disorganized the race. An open front, looks of distrust and wet ground complicated the record aspirations but time said it was possible and the Ethiopian did not give up.

Kejelcha gritted his teeth in a toss-up ending for the world record that he finally achieved by just one second

Halfway through the race, only the two favorites and the Kenyan Daniel Mateiko remained in the lead and the time, 27.12, was four seconds slower than the current record. The group stayed together until Kejelcha wanted, that is until kilometer 15 when, with heavier rain, he left his companions behind with a wild sprint on the ‘gargoyle bridge’.

Already alone and with victory in the race ‘assured’, Kejelcha gritted his teeth in a toss-up finish for the world record that he finally achieved by just one second. Behind, almost a minute later, Mateko entered with a mark of 58.17.