Week in Review: Kiplimo at it again
Ugandan lowers world record in half marathon with 57:20 clocking in Lisbon
Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda appeared to have bettered the official world record in the half marathon for the third time in his career on Sunday when he ran 57:20 in the Lisbon Half Marathon in Lisbon, Portugal.
Now the question is will his latest effort be ratified as a world record by World Athletics?
I ask that because the 25-year-old Kiplimo had run a stunning 56:42 in a half marathon in Barcelona, Spain, in February of last year, but it became apparent last month that World Athletics was not going to ratify the mark because the organization had ruled that his performance had been unfairly aided by the pace race during the race.
Competition rules do not stipulate that a specific minimum distance be maintained between a pace car and the lead runner/s, but World Athletics felt that the vehicle in Barcelona had served to reduce the wind resistance for Kiplimo as he ran 10 to 15 meters behind it.
Various reports also stated that it was World Athletics’ contention that Kiplimo had broken a rule pertaining to the amount of advice a runner can receive from a coach or coaches during a race.
The non-ratification meant that the official world record for the half marathon remained at 57:30, which had been set by Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia in Valencia, Spain, in 2024. That effort had shaved a second off the world record of 57:31 that Kiplimo had set in Lisbon in 2021.
Kiplimo had not raced in Lisbon since then, but there was a feeling he had returned to the Portuguese capital this year because the course has a World Athletics Label designation, meaning that any record set there will go through the ratification process under pre-approved conditions.
With Kejelcha’s world record of 57:30 translating to a pace of roughly 2:43.5 per kilometer, Kiplimo was nine and a half seconds ahead of schedule when he and Kenyans Nicholas Kipkorir and Gilbert Kiprotich passed five kilometers in 13:28 on Sunday. He and Kipkorir were 15 seconds up on record tempo when they passed 10 kilometers in 27:00.
Although Kiplimo broke the race open during the ensuing five kilometers, his pace slowed to 13:52 for that 5,000-meter segment of the contest after he had covered the first two in 13:28 and 13:32, respectively.
As a result, his 15-kilometer split of 40:52 was only a second ahead of world record pace, but when he covered the ensuing five kilometers in 13:31 for a split of 54:23 at 20 kilometers, he was roughly seven and a half seconds up on the tempo required for a global best.
Behind Kiplimo, Kipkorir finished second in 58:08, followed by Kiprotich in 58:59, Benard Langat of Kenya in 59:31, and Mohamed Ismail of Djibouti in 59:45.
The times for Kipkorir, Langat, and Ismail were all personal bests.
“I’m so happy to break the world record,” Kiplimo said in a World Athletics post. “After the first 10km, I thought the world record was possible. I tried to keep pushing the pace in the final two kilometres.”
The win was the second of the year for the versatile Kiplimo, who won his third consecutive senior men’s title in the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on Jan. 10.
His next race is expected to be the London Marathon on April 26, where he will try to improve upon his second-place finish from last year that came in his marathon debut.
Successful title defense: While Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda bettered the men’s world record in the Lisbon Half Marathon on Saturday, Tsige Gebreselama of Ethiopia won her second consecutive women’s title when she ran 1:04:48.
The 25-year-old Gebreselama finished more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Janeth Chepngetich of Kenya, who timed 1:06:50.
She was followed by third-place Regina Wambui of Kenya, who ran a personal best of 1:07:10, fourth-place Tabitha Kamau of Kenya, who clocked a personal best of 1:07:22, and fifth-place Girmawit Gebrzihair of Ethiopia, who timed 1:07:30.
Gebreselama, who set a course record of 1:04:21 in last year’s race, went out at a quick tempo as she came through five kilometers in 14:55 and 10 kilometers in 30:05. She slowed some after that, but her final time was still the second-fastest women’s effort in the history of the race.
It also followed a 1:04:52 clocking that she had run while placing second in the Houston Half Marathon in January.
“This is my second win,” Gebreselama said of her victory in Lisbon in a World Athletics post. “The race was good. My plan was to run sub-64, but I’m still happy.”
Successful title defense II: Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won her second consecutive title in the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday after edging away from her closest competitor late in the race.
It was the 35-year-old runner’s third victory in her last four marathons as she had won the 2024 New York City Marathon before winning in Nagoya last year and finishing third in New York last November.
Chepkirui timed 2:21:54, followed by Sayaka Sato of Japan in 2:21:56. The next three finishers were Ethiopian Aynalem Desta in 2:22:37 and the Japanese duo of Rika Kaseda in 2:22:53 and Natsuki Omori in 2:23:45.
Chepkirui, who spent most of the race at the front of the lead pack, went through 10 kilometers in 33:10, 20 kilometers in 1:07:15, and the halfway mark in 1:10:51.
The lead pack consisted of six runners at that point in the race, but that group had been reduced to Chepkirui, Desta, Sato, Kaseda, and Omori when they passed 30 kilometers in 1:41:12.
Omori had fallen back when the front four went through 35 kilometers in 1:57:54 and by 40 kilometers Chepkirui and Sato were credited with splits of 2:04:58, with Desta at 2:15:00 and Kaseda at 2:15:07.
Chepkirui, who has a personal best of 2:17:29, eventually opened up a small lead over Sato, who was the runner-up for the second year in a row.
“I’m very happy to defend my title,” Chepkirui said in a World Athletics post. “The wind was really strong, so I needed to stay mentally strong all the way to the finish.”
Sato said “It’s tough to lose the sprint at the end, but I believe I ran a good race today.”
Thrilling finish: Nathan Martin of the U.S. won the men’s title in the 41st Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday when he caught Michael Kamau of Kenya inches before the finish line.
The 36-year-old Martin and Kamau were both credited with times of 2:11:18 after Martin had made up a ton of ground on Kamau in the final half mile of the race. Enyew Nigat of Kenya finished third in 2:14:23.
The victory was the second in 16 career marathons for Martin, who had won his inaugural marathon in the NAIA outdoor track and field championships in 2013 when he was a senior at Spring Arbor University in Michigan.
After setting a meet record of 2:19:19 in that first marathon, which had come two days after he won the 10,000 meters in 29:57.79, Martin eventually lowered his personal best to 2:10:45 while finishing fourth in the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, in 2023.
His most notable performances of his career had been an eighth-place effort in the New York City Marathon in 2021 and a seventh-place finish in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Orlando, Florida, in 2024.
He was not amongst the lead pack during the early part of the L.A. Marathon on Sunday, but he was in sixth place, 33 seconds behind leader Kamau, after 20 kilometers.
Although he was part of a three-runner chase group in pursuit of Kamau after 30 kilometers, he was a minute and 44 seconds behind the Kenyan.
He was alone in second place five kilometers later, but his deficit to Kamau had grown by another 10 seconds. However, that gap had been reduced to 56 seconds when Martin came through 40 kilometers in 2:04:34.
Kamau, who reportedly did not drink any fluids during the race, was obviously tiring at that point. But his lead was large enough that it looked as though he would be able to hold on for the victory. However, he lost some precious seconds with about 300 meters to go when he had to veer around a woman who had run onto the street waving a large Kenyan flag and then, apparently confused, he briefly followed the pace vehicle as it exited the race as planned, before doubling back onto the course.
Martin could clearly see Kamau ahead of him at that stage and he had noticed he had been quickly reducing the gap between the two of them. Running hard all the way through the finish, he overtook Kamau just before the finish line as the Kenyan collapsed after completing the race.
Martin, who is a substitute teacher and the cross country coach at Jackson High School in southern Michigan, said in a Detroit Free Press post that he had begun to pick up his pace with about five miles (roughly 8,000 meters) left in the race.
“Around mile five, I just kind of took off, and nobody went with me,” he said. “So I said, ‘hey, I have to push, I have to fight.’ I wasn’t thinking at that point about winning. It was just making sure I gave the effort I have, and around a mile [to go] was when I saw I had a chance.”
Runaway victory: In contrast to the incredibly tight finish in the men’s race of the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, Priscah Cherono of Kenya won the women’s division by more than two minutes with her time of 2:25:20.
Cherono, a 45-year-old mother of three, was 42 seconds ahead of her closest competitor after the first five kilometers of the race and she ended up finishing well in front of Kellyn Taylor of the U.S., who placed second in 2:27:37. Kenyan Antonina Kwambai finished third in 2:28:50.
Cherono, who had won a bronze medal in the 5,000 meters in the 2007 World outdoor track and field championships, had not competed from 2020-24. But she lowered her personal best in the marathon to 2:25:17 in winning The Marathon Project race in Chandler, Arizona, last December before coming within three seconds of that time on Sunday.
After coming through the first five kilometers in 16:16, she clocked 33:07 at 10 kilometers and 1:05:59 at 20 kilometers. She had a lead of nearly three and a half minutes over second-place Makenna Myler of the U.S. at that point and though her advantage had decreased to a little under three minutes over runner-up Taylor when she came through 30 kilometers in 1:41:30, she was never seriously challenged during the remainder of the contest.
“I was feeling OK and I felt I could take it all the way,” Cherono said in an latimes.com post. “Normally I train alone, so I was happy running by myself.”
Inga, Karlstrom prevail in Dudince: Evelyn Inga of Peru and Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden won the women’s and men’s half marathon titles, respectively, in the 45th Dudinska 50 race walking event in Dudince, Slovakia, last Saturday.
The winners of the women’s and men’s marathon races were Sofia Ramos Rodgriguez of Mexico and Bence Venyercsan of Hungary.
The event was the second of six gold level meets that are part of the World Race Walking Tour.
Inga, who had placed eighth in the 20-kilometer walk in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, timed 1:33:49 in the half marathon in Dudince while finishing ahead of compatriot Kimberly Garcia, who was second in 1:34:17. Alejandra Ortega of Mexico placed third in 1:35:57 and Paula Milena Torres of Ecuador was fourth in 1:36:18.
Ortega had stormed to a 57-second lead after the first 15 kilometers of the race, but she soon had to spend two minutes in the penalty zone after receiving her third red card of the race.
Inga then forged ahead of Garcia, the double World champion in the 20- and 35-kilometer races in 2022. Despite her time in the penalty zone, Ortega managed to finish third after overtaking Torres after re-entering the race.
Karlstrom, a four-time World medalist, had a huge margin of victory in the men’s half marathon as his 1:24:58 clocking left him more than three minutes in front of Finland’s Jerry Jokinen, who finished second in 1:28:17. Andres Eduardo Olivas Nunez of Mexico placed third in 1:28:47.
Rodriguez also had a large margin of victory in the women’s marathon walk as she clocked 3:35:37 to the 3:39:11 time of second-place Laura Monej Martinez of Spain. Elvina Carre of France finished third in 3:40:28 in a race in which Rodriguez had broken clear of the field after the first six kilometers.
Venyercsan posted the biggest victory of his career in the men’s marathon when he covered the distance in 3:03:45 after having dropped his closest pursuers with 10 kilometers left in the race.
Behind him, the German duo of Karl Junghannß and Christopher Linke placed second and third, respectively, with times of 3:04:33 and 3:05:44.
Breakthrough performance: Manolo Karalis of Greece continued his hot streak in the men’s pole vault when he cleared 6.06 meters (19 feet 10½ inches) in winning the event in the Perche Elite Tour event in Rouen, France, last Saturday. But runner-up Sondre Guttormsen of Norway might have had the most noteworthy performance of the competition as he cleared the same height as Karalis while moving into a three-way tie for sixth on the all-time performer list.
While Karalis cleared 5.70 (18-8¼), 5.90 (19-4¼), and 6.06 (19-10½) on his first attempts, fellow 26-year-old competitor Guttormsen made 5.55 (18-2 ½) on his first try before needing two tries to get over 5.70 (18-8¼), one to make 5.80 (19-¼), and two to negotiate 5.90 (19-4 ) and 6.00 (19-8¼), which tied the Norwegian record he had set while winning the 2023 NCAA indoor title while competing for Princeton University.
He then cleared 6.06 (19-10½) on his third attempt before having the bar raised to 6.12 (20-1) before he passed all three of his allotted tries at that height.
With Guttormsen out of the competition, Karalis then missed three times at 6.20 (20-4), which would have added three centimeters to the 6.17 (20-2¾) height he had produced in winning the Greek national title on Feb. 28 while moving to second on the all-time performer list.
For his part, Guttormsen had yearly bests of 5.82 (19-1) and 5.90 (19-4¼), respectively, in 2024 and last year. But he had cleared from 5.81 (19-¾) to 5.90 (19-4¼) in five of his six competitions this year prior to Saturday.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” he said in a vg.no post when speaking about his record clearance in which he might have brushed bar ever so slightly. “It actually means I’m a damn good pole vaulter.”
He then talked about moving into a tie for sixth on the all-time performer list.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. When I got the news that I’m number six ever and was told who I had passed on the list … It may take some time for it to sink in.”
In addition to moving to a tie for sixth on the all-time list, Guttormsen is now fifth on the all-time European list.
Seven and counting: Jakub Szymanski of Poland won his seventh final of the year without a loss in the men’s 60-meter high hurdles when he clocked a national record of 7.37 seconds in the ISTAF Indoor 2026 meet in Berlin last Friday.
The 23-year-old Szymanski moved into a seven-way tie for seventh on the all-time performer list with his effort that made him the second-fastest European ever — behind former world record-holder Colin Jackson of Great Britain at 7.30 — and trimmed two hundredths of a second off his former national record of 7.39 from last year.
His clocking also gave him a huge margin of victory over compatriot Damian Czykier, who placed second in 7.55. He was followed by Joe Geerds of the Netherlands in 7.62.
Szymanski, who is tied for first on the yearly world list with the U.S. duo of Trey Cunnigham and Dylan Beard, is expected to have plenty of support when he competes in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Torun from March 20-22.
Five and counting: Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands tied her national record in the women’s shot put when she registered a mark of 20.69 (67-10¾) while posting her fifth victory in five meets this season in the ISTAF Indoor 2026 competition.
Schilder’s mark topped her previous yearly world-leading mark of 20.49 (67-2¾), tied the national record that she had set in winning the European indoor title last year, and left her way in front of second-place Auriol Dongmo of Portugal at 19.14 (62-9 ½) and third-place Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany at 19.08 (62-7 ¼).
Dongmo won the World indoor championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2022 and Ogunleye was the Olympic champion in the 2024 Games in Paris.
The 26-year-old Schilder fouled on three of her six puts on Friday, but the reigning World outdoor champion exceeded 20 meters (65-7 ½) on her three fair efforts. She hit 20.38 (66-10½) in the third round, 20.03 (65-8¾) in the fourth, and 20.69 (67-10¾) in the sixth.
Kerley banned: Fred Kerley of the U.S., the 2022 World champion in the men’s 100 meters, has received a two-year ban from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after the organization determined that he had missed three unannounced anti-doping tests in 2024.
The ban will run from Aug. 12 of last year, when he was placed on provisional suspension, through Aug. 11 of 2027.
The suspension prohibits the 30-year-old Kerley from competing in any meets which fall under the umbrella of World Athletics. However, he can compete in the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas from May 21-24, in which competitors in track and field, swimming, and weightlifting will be allowed to use performance enhancing drugs, provided they are legal and prescribed by a doctor.
AIU rules state that if an athlete misses three drug tests within a 12-month period, it is a violation of anti-doping rules and the athlete is subject to suspension.
According to the AIU statement, Kerley was unavailable for tests on May 11, June 13, and December 6 of 2024.
Kerley the silver medalist in the 100 in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and the bronze medalist in Paris in 2024, blamed technical issues with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency app for missing his test on May 11. And he contended that a doping control officer was at fault for the missed test on Dec. 6, as the officer’s caller ID was for a telephone number in Mexico, not in the U.S. Thus, he chose not to answer the call.
Nonetheless, a Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal described Kerley as “negligent and, to a certain extent, reckless” in regards to the whereabouts failures.
In its statement, AIU Head Brett Clothier was quoted as stating the following: “Unfortunately, sophisticated doping substances may only be detectable within an athlete’s sample for a few days or even hours after administration. Anti-doping organisations need to be able to test athletes without notice on the day and hour of our choosing, otherwise anti-doping programmes will not work, and dopers will easily avoid detection. Whereabouts rules are therefore fundamental to the integrity of sport and must be respected.”
Kerley, who set his personal best of 9.76 seconds in the 100 in 2022, had season bests of 9.98 in the 100, 20.16 in the 200, and 44.73 in the 400 last year. But he did not compete after the middle of July and withdrew from the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships that were held in Eugene, Oregon, from July 31 - August 3.