Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie sets men's world half marathon record

Kibiwott Kandie of Kenya poses with the adidas adizero adios pro after breaking the half-marathon record in Spain. Photo / Getty Images

Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie broke the men's world half marathon record in Valencia, Spain, on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Kandie won the 21km (13-mile) race in 57 minutes, 32 seconds, bettering the previous mark established by Geoffrey Kamworor in 2019 by 29 seconds.

The extremely fast race saw the next three men come across inside Kamworor's previous record time.

Kandie celebrates as he crosses the finish line. Photo / Getty Images

World champion Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda was second, followed by Kenyans Rhonex Kipruto and Alexander Mutiso.

Genzebe Dibaba won the women's race in 1:05:18. That was the fastest ever debut over the distance, according to World Athletics.

At 57:32, Kibiwott Kandie is now the fastest human to ever run a half marathon. 🐐
📺: https://t.co/L1P30njf1M pic.twitter.com/dpyo2HBGe4

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) December 6, 2020

Last year, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya ran the 42.2km official marathon distance in a once-inconceivable time of 1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds.

He became the first person to break the two-hour mark.