World Athletics has refused to approve Jacob Kiplimo’s breathtaking half-marathon performance, transforming a seemingly historic achievement into a lesson about the boundaries of competition rules. The Ugandan runner’s 56:42 finish at last year’s Barcelona Half-Marathon initially appeared to mark a new era in road racing, but it will now remain unofficial.
Reports from Runner’s World Spain indicate that the governing body found Kiplimo’s run to be in violation of established technical regulations. At the heart of the decision is World Athletics’ rule barring athletes from benefiting from pacing help provided by non-participants or by mechanical means beyond approved wearables.
Video evidence from the race shows Kiplimo spending much of the course trailing the lead pace vehicle by roughly 10 to 15 metres. Officials concluded that this positioning offered an unfair advantage, even though current rules do not clearly define a safe or legal distance between athletes and pace cars. The situation has reignited debate about whether race organizers and athletes are exploiting regulatory blind spots.
Further complicating the matter, the report suggests that Kiplimo may also have breached another guideline that restricts competitors from receiving tactical or coaching input during an event. Although his performance lowered the previous best by an extraordinary 48 seconds and broke the long-standing 57-minute barrier, those achievements will not be formally acknowledged.
With Kiplimo’s mark set aside, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha will continue to be listed as the men’s half-marathon world record holder for his 57:30 run at the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon. The two athletes are expected to clash at the 2026 TCS London Marathon on April 26, a showdown that now carries added weight—not just for victory, but for the ongoing debate over how the sport defines fairness at its fastest edge.
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