, restoring order to the record books after a year of swift times and faster rumors. The Ethiopian, a world indoor champion who took silver over 10,000m in Tokyo this September, clipped one second from Jacob Kiplimo’s 2021 mark. Ratification underscores that the performance passed equipment, course, and testing standards that often trail headlines by months.){kind=link}
World Athletics formally ratified Yomif Kejelcha’s 57:30 from Valencia (Oct. 27, 2024), restoring order to the record books after a year of swift times and faster rumors. The Ethiopian, a world indoor champion who took silver over 10,000m in Tokyo this September, clipped one second from Jacob Kiplimo’s 2021 mark. Ratification underscores that the performance passed equipment, course, and testing standards that often trail headlines by months.
The Valencia race served as a masterclass in pace discipline: 13:38 at 5K, 27:12 at 10K, and 40:56 at 15K, when Kejelcha decisively broke the pack. The confirmation arrives as elite road running recalibrates after super-shoe maturation and deeper pacing architecture have pushed road bests into track-like territory.
Ratification matters practically. It establishes the benchmark for appearance-fee negotiations and record-bonus clauses for late-year halves (e.g., Valencia 2025) and provides a clean reference point for the statistical community navigating a dense season of majors and championship hangovers. It also reframes the winter racing calendar: athletes chasing fast halves now know the bar—and that Valencia’s timing, weather pattern, and pacing history remain a template for record intent.
Sources: World Athletics (press release).