Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey smashed the women’s half marathon world record at the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday.
In her debut over the distance, Gidey finished in 1:02:52 – 70 seconds quicker than Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, who set a new world record at the N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon in April.
The 23-year-old is also the world recorder holder for the 5,000m and 10,000m. She broke the 10,000m record at the Ethiopian Olympic trials in July this year and the 5,000m last October at the NN Valencia World Record Day – a record which had stood for 12 years. She also clinched Olympic bronze in the 10,000m in Tokyo this summer.
Paced by Mebrahtu Kiros on Sunday, Gidey went through 5K in 15:00 and reached 10K in 29:45 – just seven seconds off the world record for the distance. She reached the 15K point in 44:29 and, although her pace slowed slightly during the final 6K, a world record finish was well within her grasp. ‘I want to thank everyone who helped me to achieve this,’ said Gidey after the race. ‘I love Valencia, it is a wonderful city and it’s almost a second home for me. I ran very fast in the first part of the race, but I had to train hard for it, even up to 30 kilometres. And here is the result.’
Compatriot Yalemzerf Yehualaw kept close to Gidey up to 5K before the gap began to widen. She finished runner-up to Gidey in 1:03:51 – also beating Chepngetich’s world record. Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui completed the podium in a PB of 1:04:54.
Over in the men’s race, Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba took the win, as he stormed past compatriot Rhonex Kipruto in the final few hundred metres to finish in 58:07. Kipruto finished runner-up in a time of 58:09 with Daniel Mateiko finishing 17 seconds behind in 58:26. ‘I want to thank the organisation for designing a very fast race,’ said Kipchumba afterwards. ‘I beat Rhonex, who is a great runner, it is very hard to beat him. Although I won the Berlin Half Marathon in September, my goal this year is Valencia and today’s time proved it.’
