Jacob Kiplimo Breaks Half Marathon World Record

Jacob Kiplimo has smashed the world half marathon record while winning the Lisbon Half Marathon on Sunday morning.

The 21-year-old Ugandan, who grabbed 10,000m bronze in Tokyo Olympics, bounced back to form in the Portuguese city.

Kiplimo clocked 57:31bettering the previous mark set by Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie in Valencia last year.

Esa Huseyidin Mohamed of Ethiopia came third in 59:39 with his countryman Gerba Beyata Dibaba coming home third in a time of 59:39.

Kiplimo, who was running his second half marathon of the year, passed through the first 5km in 13:40, having already dropped the rest of the field.

Over the next five kilometers, Kiplimo had a lead of about one minute over the chase pack and was well on schedule to break the world record.

He pushed the pace to reach 15km in 40:27 before dropping down but he managed to just finish inside the world record, crossing the line in 57:31.

In the Women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu won in 1:06:06 with Kenya’s Daisy Cherotich finishing second  in 1:06:15 while Joyce Chepkemoi came home third in 1:06:19.