Jacob Kiplimo

 ( 2000 Births ) 

Jacob Kiplimo (born 14 November 2000) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. Kiplimo is a four-time World Cross Country champion, having won the junior race in 2017 and senior titles in 2023, 2024, and 2026. He won bronze medals in the 10,000m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Kiplimo’s personal bests of 12:40.96 in the 5000m and 26:33.84 in the 10,000m rank within the top ten all-time in those events. The gold medalist in the 5000m and 10,000m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Kiplimo also won the 2020 World Half Marathon.

At age 15, he represented his country at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the youngest ever Olympian for Uganda. Kiplimo is also the Ugandan record holder for the 3000 metres.

His time of 56:42 in the Barcelona Half Marathon on 16 February 2025 was the fastest ever, breaking the official world record by 48 seconds. However, the time was not ratified as a world record by World Athletics due to assistance by a lead pace car that was deemed illegal.

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Early life Kiplimo was born on 14 November 2000. A member of the Sebei people, he grew up in Kween District on Mount Elgon, living at a high altitude. His family grew maize. As a young child, Kiplimo would watch his older brothers train for athletic events. He would also travel to school by running a distance of 5 km. Kiplimo won a selection trial for the World Mountain Running Championships in 2015 but was not allowed to compete due to his age. Kiplimo then moved to Italy and began competing in events. After winning a 2017 cross country event in Uganda, he moved back.

At the age of fifteen, Kiplimo won the 10,000 metres bronze medal at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships behind fellow East Africans Rodgers Kwemoi and Aron Kifle. He ran 5000 metres in Rome that May at 13:24:40 minutes, which was a qualifying time for the Olympics. Kiplimo was then selected for 2016 Summer Olympics. Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, he improved his 5000 m best to 13:19.54 minutes. As the youngest entrant to the competition, he ran in the Olympic heats only, recording a time of 13:30.40 minutes for 11th in his race. Jacob Kiplimo. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 August 2016. He was the youngest ever competitor for Uganda at the Olympic Games. Jacob Kiplimo . Rio2016. Retrieved on 21 August 2016.

At 16, Kiplimo won gold in the men's U20 race at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, the country's first-ever gold medal at a World Cross, covering a 8 km course in 22:40 minutes. He won the San Silvestre Vallecana 10 km road race in Madrid in a time of 26:41 on 31 December 2018. The course had an elevation drop, making it ineligible for world record status.

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Career

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2019 At the Ugandan Cross Country Championships on 16 February in Tororo, Kiplimo defeated Joshua Cheptegei by placing first and second, respectively. In the men's senior race over 10 km, Kiplimo won by an 11-second lead over the 10,000 m world championship runner-up.

At the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, Kiplimo finished second in the senior men's race four seconds after Joshua Cheptegei's winning time of 31:40. He won the gold medal in the teams ranking with Cheptegei from Uganda.

Kiplimo did not run in the 10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Doha because of an injury.

On 31 December, Kiplimo ran the Saint Silvester Road Race (15 km) in São Paulo and was beaten by Kibiwott Kandie at the finish line. Kandie won in 42:59, a new course record, with Kiplimo finishing in 43:00.

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2020 On 8 September, Kiplimo won the 5000 m run in Ostrava, Czech Republic in a time of 12:48.63 and improved his personal best of 13:13.64 set as a 16-year-old at the 2017 Prefontaine Classic. Selemon Barega was the runner up with a time 12:49.08, while his personal best of 12:43.02 was the fifth-fastest ever at the time. On 17 September, Kiplimo won a Diamond League 3000 m run in Rome with a time of 7:26.64. Kiplimo won the Half Marathon World Championship in a time of 58:49 on 17 October in Gdynia, Poland. His time was a Ugandan record and championship record.

On 6 December, he competed in the Valencia Half Marathon against Kibiwott Kandie, Rhonex Kipruto, and Alexander Mutiso. They all broke the previous world record of 58:01, set by Geoffrey Kamworor in 2019. Kandie set the new world record time at 57:32. Kiplimo placed second in the race with a time of 57:37.

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2021 On 21 March 2021, Kiplimo competed at the Campaccio cross country race in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Despite falling during the ninth kilometer of the race, he won a 10 km in 29:07. Ethiopia's Nibret Melak finished second, and Kiplimo's younger brother Oscar Chelimo finished third. On 19 May, Kiplimo returned to the track racing 10,000 m at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike. He pulled away from Bahrain's Birhanu Balew to win the race. Kiplimo finished in a personal best time of 26:33.93, which made him the seventh-fastest 10,000 m performer of all time and the second-fastest Ugandan in history over the distance behind world record holder Joshua Cheptegei's 26:11.00.

On 21 November 2021, Kiplimo set a half marathon world record at 57:31 in Lisbon. His record was broken by Yomif Kejelcha, who ran a time of 57:30 at the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon.

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2023 On 18 February, Kiplimo won the gold medal in the 10-kilometer race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Bathurst, Australia with a time of 29:17. Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi finished second in 29:26 followed by Joshua Cheptegei (29:37), world record holder for the 5000 m and 10,000 m, who had been defending his title from Aarhus 2019.

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2025 On 16 February, Kiplimo regained the world record in the half marathon, finishing the Barcelona Half Marathon in 56 minutes and 42 seconds. On 5 February 2026, that record was stripped by World Athletics because it is suspected that the lead car of the race offered Kiplimo a "pacing advantage". Barcelona Half Marathon race direction later stated that they will appeal this decision.

On 27 April, Kiplimo made his marathon debut at the 2025 London Marathon, finishing in second behind Sebastian Sawe with a time of 2:03:37, a Ugandan national record.

On 12 October, Kiplimo won the 2025 Chicago Marathon, finishing in 2:02:23 and marking his first marathon win.

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2026 On 8 March, Kiplimo returned to Lisbon and retook the world record at 57:20.

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Achievements All information from World Athletics profile.

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Personal bests

• 1500 metres – 3:50.24 (Arezzo 2016)
• 3000 metres – 7:26.64 (Rome 2020)
• 5000 metres – 12:41.73 (Oslo 2023)
• 10,000 metres – 26:33.93 (Ostrava 2021)
• 10,000 meters – 29:17 (Sydney 2023)

Road

• 10 kilometres – 27:31 (Manchester 2019)
• 15 kilometers – 40:07 (Barcelona 2025) – World Best
• Half marathon – 56:42 (Barcelona 2025) – (not ratified as a World Record due to "assistance from a lead pace car")
• Marathon – 2:02:23 (Chicago 2025)

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International competitions

2016	World U20 Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	3rd	10,000 m
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	26th (h)	5000 m
2017	World Cross Country Championships	Kampala, Uganda	1st	Junior race
			4th	Junior team	59 pts
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	22nd (h)	5000 m
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	4th	10,000 m
	World U20 Championships	Tampere, Finland	6th	5,000 m
			2nd	10,000 m
2019	World Cross Country Championships	Aarhus, Denmark	2nd	Senior race
			1st	Team	20 pts
2020	World Half Marathon Championships	Gdynia, Poland	1st	Half marathon
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	5th	5,000 m
			3rd	10,000 m
2022	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	3rd	10,000 m
	Commonwealth Games	Birmingham, United Kingdom	1st	5000 m
			1st	10,000 m	SB
2023	World Cross Country Championships	Bathurst, Australia	1st	Senior race
			3rd	Team	37 pts
2024	Olympic Games	Paris, France	8th	10,000 m	26:46.39
2015	We Run Rome	Rome, Italy	3rd	10 km	28:49
2016	Cuneo ASICS Run	Cuneo, Italy	1st	10 km	28:26
2018	Giro al Sas	Trento, Italy	1st	10 km	28:17
	San Silvestre Vallecana	Madrid, Spain	1st	10 km	26:41
2019	Great Manchester Run	Manchester, United Kingdom	1st	10 km	27:31
	MTN Kampala Half Marathon	Kampala, Uganda	1st	Half marathon	1:01:53
	Saint Silvester Road Race	São Paulo, Brazil	2nd	15 km	43:00
2020	Valencia Half Marathon	Valencia, Spain	2nd	Half marathon	57:37
2021	Lisbon Half Marathon	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	Half marathon	57:31
2022	Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates	1st	Half marathon	57:56
	Great North Run	Newcastle, United Kingdom	1st	Half marathon	59:33
2023	New York City Half Marathon	New York, NY, United States	1st	Half marathon	1:01:31
2025	Barcelona Half Marathon	Barcelona, Spain	1st	Half marathon	56:42
2025	London Marathon	London, England	2nd	Marathon	2:03:37
2025	21K Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires, Argentina	1st	Half marathon	58:29
2025	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, United States	1st	Marathon	2:02:23
2026	Lisbon Half Marathon	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	Half marathon	57:20

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Circuit wins

• Diamond League
• 2020: Golden Gala (3000m)

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External links

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