{"id":5421,"date":"2026-08-25T10:03:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eastafrica.news\/en\/?p=5421"},"modified":"2026-08-25T10:03:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:03:45","slug":"ethiopias-kejelcha-sets-new-half-marathon-world-record-in-buenos-aires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastafrica.news\/en\/ethiopias-kejelcha-sets-new-half-marathon-world-record-in-buenos-aires\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s\u00a0 Kejelcha Sets New Half Marathon World Record in Buenos Aires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha reclaimed the half marathon world record with a blistering run of 56 minutes and 51 seconds to win a World Athletics Label road race in Buenos Aires on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 29-year-old shaved 29 seconds off the previous record of 57:20 set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in March. Kejelcha had set the previous record in October 2024 in Valencia, where he ran 57:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kejelcha went through 10 kilometers in 27:19 before accelerating over the second half of the race. He reached 20 kilometres in 54:04 and completed the final kilometer in 2:32 to become the first athlete to officially break the 57-minute barrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kejelcha was paced early on by Uganda’s Dillon Kipyeko and Kenya’s Brian Kipkore, who helped set an opening rhythm of around 2:45 per kilometer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performance came months after Kejelcha made headlines with a 1:59:40 marathon debut in London, the fastest marathon debut ever recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tadese Worku (59:20) and Bereket Nega (1:00:20) made sure it was an Ethiopian podium sweep, taking second and third places respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Fotyen Tesfay won in 1:03:57, her third-fastest career performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenya’s Nelvin Jepkemboi finished second in 1:05:06, followed by compatriot Catherine Amanang’ole in 1:05:11, giving Kenya two places on the women’s podium<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha reclaimed the half marathon world record with a blistering run of 56 minutes and 51 seconds to win a World Athletics Label road race in Buenos Aires on Sunday. The 29-year-old shaved 29 seconds off the previous record of 57:20 set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in March. Kejelcha had set…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"postBodyCss":"","postBodyMargin":[],"postBodyPadding":[],"postBodyBackground":{"backgroundType":"classic","gradient":""},"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t