Letesenbet Gidey smashes world record at Valencia Half-Marathon

This year’s Valencia Half-Marathon was set up to be one of the best races of the season, and it did not disappoint. In her first-ever attempt at the distance, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey destroyed the previous world record, winning the race in 62:52. This is more than a minute faster than the previous record of 64:02, set by Ruth Chepnegetich in Istanbul last April. It is also faster than Yalemzerf Yehualaw’s 63:44 at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in August, which went unratified because the course was 54 metres short.

Letesenbet Gidey smashes the women’s world record for the half-marathon in Valencia by well over a minute with a stunning 62:50 (TBC). pic.twitter.com/esWLIfAMBI

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 24, 2021

Gidey’s record by the numbers

To put Gidey’s time into perspective, according to World Athletics scoring tables, 62:02 equates to approximately a 13:50 5K, 29-minute 10K and a 2:11 marathon. Gidey currently holds the 5,000m record in 14:06.62 and the 10,000m record in 29:01.03, which means her performance in the half-marathon surpassed both of her previous records. It also indicates that should she move up to the marathon, she’ll be a strong contender to take down that record as well, which is currently held by Brigid Kosgei at 2:14:04.

Is Valencia the fastest city in the world?

Of course, these times are not what she actually ran during the race, but rather projections of what someone could run at different distances based on that performance. Her actual splits on Sunday were no less impressive, however, and she went through 5K in 15:00, sped up over the next 5K to split 29:45 for 10K and went through 15K in 44:29. This 15K time is remarkable, considering it is only nine seconds slower than her own 15K world record.

Yehualaw finished behind Gidey, tying for second with Ethiopia’s Genetu Molalign in 63:51, and while she didn’t get the world-record redemption she was looking for, she still proved that she can run under 64 minutes for the half-marathon.

Yalemzerf Yehualaw's world half marathon record set at this year's @CoastHalf event has not been ratified after the course was found to be 54 metres short.

More ⤵️ #bbcathletics

— BBC SPORT NI (@BBCSPORTNI) October 23, 2021

For those of you keeping track, this means Gidey is now the first woman to break 64 and 63 minutes in the half-marathon, and she now holds the 5,000m, 10,000m, 15K and half-marathon world records. While many expected a world-record performance to come out of this race, few thought it would be quite this incredible. If her earlier records weren’t enough, Gidey’s performance on Sunday solidified her as one of the most prolific distance runners in history.

With a dramatic late surge Abel Kipchumba out-kicks Rhonex Kipruto to win the Valencia Half Marathon in 58:03 (TBC). pic.twitter.com/NL1UuvvJQ1

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 24, 2021

The men’s race

Alex Kipchumba of Kenya was the winner of the men’s race in 58:07, out-kicking his fellow countryman Rhonex Kipruto, who finished right behind him in 58:09. Daniel Mateiko, also from Kenya, outkicked Kennedy Kimutai to round out the podium, crossing the line in third in 58:26, two seconds ahead of Kimutai.

For a full list of results, click here.

Kibiwott Kandie smashes half-marathon world record in Valencia, runs 57:32