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Gdynia, Poland – Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir lowered her own world record for an all-female half marathon at the Gdynia world championships on Saturday, but serial beater Joshua Cheptegei missed a medal in the men’s race.
Jepchirchir, 27, who also won world gold in a half marathon in 2016, produced a final sprint to take the women’s title in 1 hour 5 minutes 16 seconds.
That improved on the previous best of 1:05:34, set by Jepchirchir herself in Prague on September 5.
“It’s unbelievable,” Jepchirchir said.
“My goal was to win this race. I wasn’t expecting to break the world record, but I realized that I could pass when we passed the 20 kilometers.
“It was a bit windy, but the field was good for me.”
She came home just two seconds ahead of Germany’s Melat Yisak Kejeta, who broke the European women’s record by taking silver in 1:05:18, with Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw a second behind.
On a cold and windy morning, a group of favorites broke up early during the four-lap race, but three of them suffered crashes to disappear from contention.
Defending champion Netsanet Gudeta’s career almost came to an abrupt halt as the leaders took a 90-degree turn onto the boardwalk, Gudeta fell and lost several seconds to the leaders.
It was a gap she would never close as the Ethiopian lagged further behind during the third lap.
Yasemin Can of Turkey led a group of seven to 10 km in 30:47, after which Jepchirchir began to take control.
Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh, world record holder in a mixed race (1:04:31), then tangled with Joyciline Jepkosgei and the two crashed to the ground, leaving Jepchirchir, Kejeta and Yehualaw fighting in the final sprint.
Cheptegei falls short
Jacob Kiplimo took the men’s race with a new championship record of 58:49, but his Ugandan compatriot Cheptegei, the title favorite, could only finish fourth.
Kiplimo, who will turn 20 next month, had never run the 21.1km distance before, but showed nerves of steel when he and Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie broke away from the leading group after the 15km mark.
The 2017 junior cross world champion pulled away in the final meters to overtake Kandie by five seconds to secure his first major title.
Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn took the bronze, coming another 14 seconds behind.
Cheptegei finished fourth in 59:21, more than half a minute behind Kiplimo, a rare disappointment for an athlete who has ignited a truncated 2020 season.
“I couldn’t give more than that,” said Cheptegei, who set a world record of 10,000 meters in Valencia just 10 days ago.
“I have been training more than 5000 meters and 10 000 meters, so I was not well prepared for it, but I am very happy, running a sub-60 (minute) is really special for me.
“My body was really doing great, but I found that I still had some fatigue in my legs.”
The 24-year-old had only made three starts this year, but had broken a world record each time.
In February he claimed the world record for 5km on the road in Monaco. Then, after a period of coronavirus lockdown at her home in Uganda, she returned to Monaco and, in her first comeback race, erased nearly two seconds of 16-year-old Kenenisa Bekele’s world record on the track above 5,000m. when he dialed 12: 35,36.
Earlier this month in Valencia, he broke Bekele’s world record of 10,000 meters of runway, taking off more than six seconds when he timed 26:11.
Those efforts may have worked against you when you first tried the half marathon distance in a competition.
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