Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor Breaks World Half Marathon Record In Copenhagen

Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya is the new World Half Marathon record holder in 57:58.

Kamworor smashed 58:18 world record held by compatriot Abraham Kiptum after winning the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sunday.

The three-time World Half Marathon champion made the historic win after a three-year absence from the 13.1-mile race which he last did in November 2014.

His goal of breaking the world record was such an important target that he passed up the opportunity to compete at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

Bernard Ngeno also from Kenya clocked 59:16 to settle in the second place as Ethiopian Berehanu Tsegu came in third in 58:44 in the Danish Capital race.

Boosted by the crowd and fully aware that he was close to the world record, Kamworor kept on pushing hard to open a sizeable margin over his challengers.

For the first five kilometres, Kamworor was part of the large group but he upped the tempo and reached 10 kilometres in 27:32, six seconds inside his target time.

Shortly after, he was out in front alone but faced the prospect of covering the final 11 kilometres without company. It didn’t seem to faze him, though, nor did the brief heavy rainfall that occurred with 37 minutes on the clock.

He covered the next five-kilometre segment in a swift 13:31, reaching 15 kilometres in 41:03, 11 seconds inside sub-58-minute pace. His pace dropped slightly for the final quarter but he looked strong and was still operating well inside world record pace.

The clock ticked over to 58 minutes just before Kamworor reached the finish line and moments later his winning mark was confirmed at 58:01.

Ethiopia’s Birhane Dibaba Adugna, the 2018 Tokyo Marathon champion, won the women’s race in 1:05:57, taking almost two minutes off her lifetime best.