Two world records in the half-marathon were ratified

The half-marathon world records set by Ethiopian athlete Letesenbet Gidey and Ugandan long-distance runner Jacob Kiplimo last year have been ratified.

Letesenbet Gidey won the Valencia Half Marathon last October with a time of 1:02:52 hour, and Jacob Kiplimo won in Lisbon in November with 57:31 minutes.

“I knew I could run at such a time, because my training in Addis Ababa was going very well. In the future, I plan to run in the marathon, but I’m not sure if this will happen before the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, or after”, said the Ethiopian long-distance runner Letesenbet Gidey, who is also the winner of the bronze medal in the 10,000 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Letesenbet Gidey is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. A 10,000m Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze medallist, she won a silver medal in the event at the 2019 World Championships. Letesenbet Gidey holds the current world records for the 5,000m and 10,000m, which she set in October 2020 and June 2021 respectively. She is the first woman since Ingrid Kristiansen from 1986-1993 to hold them both simultaneously. In October 2021, she set the world record in half marathon, breaking previous mark by more than a minute. She also holds the world best in the 15 km road race.