New York City Half Marathon Podium
- Jacob Kiplimo 🇺🇬 🏆 1:01:31
- Joshua Cheptegei 🇺🇬 1:02:09
- Zouhair Talbi 🇲🇦 1:02:18
Jacob Kiplimo beat his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei to win the New York City Half Marathon on Sunday in a time of 1:01:31.
The race came less than a month since Kiplimo won the World Cross Country Championship in Bathurst Australia, in a race Cheptegei finished third.
Kiplimo went into the lead at the 15 kilometre mark, dropping off Cheptegei and Moroccan Talbi (who finished third).
And two kilometers later, Kiplimo was running a solo race. He never looked back before gallantly breaking the tape.
“From the start to the finish, even though it was a little cold, I did my best,” Kiplimo said. “I think my preparation the last two months helped a lot for this because I was doing two trainings a day preparing for the World Cross Country Championships, plus this half marathon.”
It was an outstanding performance from the Ugandan iconic duo who were making their debut at the New York half Marathon.
“I am really happy for second place, as I said earlier, I am still learning the half marathon,” Cheptegei commented after the race.
In the Women’s race, Kenyan Helen Obiri eased past Ethiopian Senbere Teferi to win in an event record of 1:07:21
Kiplimo Continues To Soar
The victory in New York is the latest for Kiplimo who won a double of 5000m and 10,000m at Commonwealth games in Birmigham last year.
The youngster had grabbed global headlines when he won Gold at the 2020 World Half Marathon championship in Poland, in a race Cheptegei finished a rare fourth.
On 21 November 2021, he set a half marathon world record at 57:31 in Lisbon, taking about two minutes off the previous world record set by Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie in Valencia in 2020.
This has been a blistering year for Kiplimo who had ended 2022 with winning the Great North Run.
And with the World Championships coming later this year in August in Budapest, Hungary, Kiplimo will once again seek to grab the headlines.
And that will set the platform for what to expect at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
