Yomif Kejelcha has reclaimed his half marathon world record with a staggering 56:51 in Buenos Aires.
The 29-year-old Ethiopian previously held the record after running 57:30 in Valencia in 2024. That time was beaten in March 2026 when Jacob Kiplimo ran 57:20 in Lisbon. Kiplimo ran even faster in Barcelona in 2025, clocking 56:42, but the race conditions didn’t fully comply with World Athletics regulations and was not ratified.
Kejelcha will also have to wait for ratification from World Athletics before his 56:51 is officially a world record, but whatever they decide, it was a stunning performance.
Kejelcha broke away from the leading group around the 7 kilometer mark and never looked back, stretching his lead to 2 minutes and 30 seconds by the end.
In what was effectively a time trial, it’s reasonable to ask what Kejelcha might be capable of on the right course with someone to push him all the way to the finish.
He maintained a pace of 2:42/kilometer for the duration of the race and his first 5k split was his slowest at 13:44. From there he went 13:34, 13:21 and 13:23. He ran the final 1.1k in 2:49.
Kejelcha also holds the 10k world record after recording a 26:31 in Spain in 2025. In the second 10k in Buenos Aires he ran 26:44, meaning his second 10k split was just 13 seconds off a 10k world record. What an incredible performance.
He is scheduled to appear again in the Valencia marathon in December 2026 on what is known as a fast course. On this form he looks very capable of going sub-2 hours in the marathon for the second time and breaking Sabastian Sawe’s world record.
