Trailblazing Geoffrey Kamworor retains World Half Marathon title

What you need to know:

  • Kamworor, 25, took command of the race just before the 15km in 44:13 minutes for a hat-trick after previous victories in 2014 Copenhagen and 2016 Cardiff.

Geoffrey Kamworor on Saturday won his third consecutive IAAF World Half Marathon title in a season's best of 1:00:02 in Valencia, Spain.

Kamworor, 25, took command of the race just before the 15km in 44:13 minutes for a hat-trick after previous victories in 2014 Copenhagen and 2016 Cardiff.

Kamworor, who has won the World Cross Country Championships title twice, is the second Kenyan to win three World Half Marathon titles after Paul Tergat, who also won in succession in 1998 Zürich (Switzerland), 1999 Palermo (Italy) and 2000 Veracruz (Mexico).

The smiling Kamworor blew kisses on his way to the tape, edging out Kenyan-born Bahraini Abraham Cheroben also in a season’s best of 1:00:22 as Eritrean Aron Kifle went for bronze in 1:00:31.

The race was sluggish first half where Kamworor and Kenyan-born Kaan Kigen Ozbilen from Turkey cruised through 10km in 29.28.

However, it’s until the 15km mark that the race turned explosive with some 30 men passing the mark within two seconds in 44:13 minutes.

Kamworor then began to pull away for a 70-metre lead as he cruised past the 20km mark in 57:14, 14 seconds ahead of Cheroben and 23 ahead of Ethiopian Jemal Yimer.

Other Kenyans Leonard Barsoton finished 12th in a season’s best of 1:01:14, Barselius Kipyego 15th in 1:01:24 and Jorum Okombo 18th in 1:01:34. Alex Oloitiptip failed to finish.