Who is Yomif Kejelcha? All about the Ethiopian runner who broke Jacob Kiplimo's half-marathon world record in Valencia

Yomif Kejelcha is a long-distance runner from Ethiopia. He recently made headlines for his remarkable performance at the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon, as he won the men’s elite race with a new world record by crossing the finish line in a time of 57:30.

With this, he shattered the previous world record held by Jacob Kiplimo, a four-time World Cross Country champion, and an Olympic and World Championships bronze medalist, who set it in 2021 at the EDP Meia Maratona de Lisboa with a time of 57:31.

Running the half-marathon, Kejelcha won the race on October 27, Sunday, finishing ahead of the Kenyan runners Daniel Mateiko (58:17) and Isaia Kipkoech Lasoi (58:21). Meanwhile, in the women's section, Agnes Ngetich was on the verge of making history as she recorded the second-fastest half marathon time with a time of 63:04.

As Kejelcha etched his name in the history of long-distance running with his exploits in Valencia, let’s dive deeper into the life and achivements of the Ethiopian runner.

Yomif Kejelcha’s personal life and family

Kejelcha was born on August 1, 1997, in Ethiopia. He is married to Yadi Birhanu, whose pictures he often shares on his Instagram account. He described his wife as caring in an Instagram post which he shared on her birthday.

Yomif Kejelcha’s youth career

Kejelcha bagged success early in his career by winning the boys’ 3000m race at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine. He then went on to bag gold medals at the African Youth Games and Youth Olympic Games in the same discipline in 2014, clocking times of 7:56.20 and 7:56.51, respectively.

Yomif Kejelcha’s junior Athletics career

Kejelcha built on his youth-level success by displaying his talent at the junior level, winning the 2014 World Junior Championships (13:25.19) and the 2015 African Junior Championships (14:31.03) in a different discipline, i.e., the 5000m.

Yomif Kejelcha’s notable accomplishments in senior career

Yomif Kejelcha during the World Athletics Championships 2023. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

After claiming titles at the World Junior and Youth Championships, Kejelcha collected the prestigious Diamond League title in the 5000m. He bagged a global silver medal with a personal best of 26:49.34 at the World Championships in the 10,000 m, finishing only behind Joshua Cheptegei (26:48.36).

Some other notable accomplishments of Kejelcha include being a two-time world indoor champion and finishing second in the World Road Running Championships in 5K in the 2023 edition. His top performances at the Olympic Games were finishing sixth in the 10,000m in Paris 2024 and seventh in Tokyo 2020.