Athletics’world body ratifies half marathon record set by Kenya’s Kamworor
World Athletics, the world governing body of athletics, on Tuesday said it has ratified Geoffrey Kamworor’s world half marathon record of 58 minutes 01 seconds.
In a sensational run, Kamworor removed 22 seconds from the previous record at the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sept. 15.
He was tantalisingly close to breaking the event’s 58-minute barrier.
It was an apt setting for the 26-year-old Kenyan who won the first of his three successive world half marathon titles in the streets of the Danish capital in 2014.
Covering the first five kilometres in 13:53, just outside world record pace, Kamworor upped the tempo to reach 10 kilometres in 27:34, four seconds inside his stated target.
He was in front alone by the 11-kilometre mark, but did not slow down.
The Kenyan reached 15 kilometres in 41:05, the fastest time ever recorded for that distance and a stunning 11 seconds inside sub-58 minute pace.
His pace dropped over the waning stages but he still reached 20 kilometres in 55:00, another world best.
He was just a few metres from the finish line as the clock moved to 58 minutes before stopping at 58:01.
“It is very emotional for me to set this record,” said Kamworor, who also won back-to-back world cross country titles in 2015 and 2017.
“And doing it in Copenhagen, where I won my first world title, adds something to it.”
World Athletics said in a statement to announce the ratification that the previous record of 58:23 was set by Zersenay Tadese in Lisbon in 2010.
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World Athletics is the new name for the International Association of Athletics Federations