Just now,On August 23 at 8:00 a.m. Argentina time (19:00 Beijing time the same day), Ethiopian distance running starYomif Kejelcha(Yomif Kejelcha) finished the Buenos Aires Half Marathon in Argentina in 56:51.
Not only did that erase his 57:30 PB, it also pushed Jacob Kiplimo — who ran 57:20 in Lisbon earlier this year — down one spot on the all‑time half‑marathon list before that mark had even had time to “cool off.”
The half‑marathon world record has once again returned to his hands.
01
A terrifying “negative split”
Opening the event’s official timing system, “Second Brother” Kejelcha’s splits read like a London‑Marathon deity had descended — a precisely executed “negative split.”
His average pace for the race was roughly 2:41/km. After 6 km, anyone behind him had already disappeared; the streets of Buenos Aires became his solo show.
© Buenos Aires Half Marathon official website
No pacers, no rotating pace groups — expressionless on the live broadcast, he fully proved the saying “those who want to win don’t smile.” In the end the director didn’t even bother to cut to the men’s second and third places behind him or to the leading women’s group.
02
Does anyone need any more proof of the gap in sheer ability?
The half is different from the full marathon. If a marathon is more of a “by‑the‑book” run, the half relies on raw cardiopulmonary toughness and the ability to absorb the effort.
Kejelcha’s marathon debut at this year’s London Marathon was a sub‑2 performance, telling the world that while “Second Brother” may be silent, his absolute ability is no joke!
© World Athletics
We thought he would fully transition to the marathon, but he clearly kept a card up his sleeve — preserving and even extending the speed he’d long been proud of — which made today’s seemingly effortless performance possible.
If this result is ratified, the human half‑marathon will officially enter the 56‑minute range. “Second Brother’s” strength needs no further questioning.
03
What else can we expect?
Kiptum’s unexpected death,Kipchoge and Bekele growing old, to Sebastian Sawe breaking 2 in a championship race...
Kejelcha's debut marathon matched the sub-2 pacing that Kipchoge ran in Vienna that year. This generation born after ’95 (Sawi 1996, Kejelcha 1997) has indeed picked up the mantle from the legends born in the ’80s.
© adidas
Kiprimo is a 2000s-born talent — explosively gifted but “not yet fully consistent.” Time will make room for him, but for now the two benchmarks of the marathon and half marathon are being held up by the 1997 cohort.
Will we see Kejelcha keep lowering major marathon records or even erase Sawi’s marathon mark?
I firmly believe he will.
[End-of-article interaction]
Text/Editor: Cavendish
Image source: internet
Visuals: Max
