Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie has set a new world record for the half marathon in a race where the top four finishers all beat the previous record in Valencia.
Kandie took 29 seconds off the mark, set by compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in Copenhagen last year, to complete the 13.1 miles in 57 minutes 32 seconds.
Rhonex Kipruto was third, 17 seconds down, with fellow Kenyan Alexander Mutiso fourth at 27 seconds back.
In the women’s race, Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba won by 21 seconds with a time of 1:05:18, with Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui second and Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia third.
Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie smashed the half marathon world record by 29 seconds on Sunday, becoming the first person to break 58 minutes at the Valencia Half Marathon https://t.co/sbAbely2Qk pic.twitter.com/nZMHAGtyj9
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 7, 2020
On Sunday, World Athletics also amended its rules to allow prototype shoes to be used again in races except at those in the Olympics or World Athletics series.
In January, athletics’ world governing body had ruled that any new shoe technology developed after 30 April would have to be available on the open market for four months before anyone can use it in competition.
There is a ban on any shoes that have a sole thicker than 40mm.
Kandie was using Adidas shoes that have 39mm of foam.
His record is the latest in a run of world records in recent months, which have mainly been broken by athletes wearing Nike shoes.
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei smashed the men’s 10,000m world record and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey set a new benchmark in the women’s 5,000m in Valencia in October.
Britain’s Mo Farah and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands broke the men’s and women’s one-hour records respectively in Brussels in September.
