Frankfurt, Aug. 29, (dpa/GNA) – Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw bettered the women’s half marathon world record by 19 seconds on Sunday in Northern Ireland.
Yehualaw clocked 1 hour 3 minutes 43 seconds in Larne to improve the mark of 1:04:02 hours Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich recorded in April in Istanbul.
“This was a dream come true for me,” Yehualaw said. “I have tried twice before to break the world record but it didn’t happen, but I’m so happy it happened today in Larne.”
Helped by two pacemakers, Yehualaw destroyed the opposition as she won from Kenyan Vane Nyaboke (1:09:44) and Britain’s Rose Harvey (1:10:28).
The men’s race saw an Ethiopian one-two in a thrilling finale, with Jemal Yimer (1:00:29) top ahead of Tesfahun Akalnew (1:00:30) and Kenyan Shadrack Kimining (1:00:31).
GNA