New Olympic Half Marathon Record Holder
Incredible competition today in Ras al Khaimah Half Marathon where Ababel Yeshaneh smashed world record of half-marathon in 1h04:31. World Marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei (Ken) clocked 1h04.49 in second place under the previous record too. Brigid Kosgei led the race from the start with impressive splits of 15:07 15:11 15:23 while, behind her, Ethiopian Yeshaneh stayed covered giving her kick through 15-20 by clocking splits of 15:31 instead 15:49 of Kosgei. Both athletes closed the last 1097m in the same time of 3min.20sec.
Ethiopian Yeshaneh still can’t believe she is the new half marathon world record holder, “I did not imagine this results, I improved my personal best by more than 60”! I am a world record holder!”
World Half Marathon record in controversial Nike shoes
Yeshaneh did so in Nike’s new Vaporfly trainers, which claim to increase an athlete’s performance by 4%. Kosegi also raced in Vaporflys. Their record times add further weight to the argument that Nike’s shoe technology is fundamentally altering the sport.
Brigid Kosgei commented ”Even if I did not win, I’m happy for this great race with Ababel! She is a friend and we have the same manager, so very happy also for her. A good result to continue on this way for the London Marathon in April.”
In third place, Rosemary Wanjiru Monicah (Ken) who finished in 1h05:34 at her half marathon debut after great performances on shorter distances.
Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh breaks the half marathon record in 64:31! pic.twitter.com/c59t5mHXkN
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 21, 2020