THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTE CARLO, Monaco – Haile Gebrselassie’s marathon world record of two hours four minutes 26 seconds was ratified Monday by the International Association of Athletic Federations.
Gebrselassie set the record at the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 30, beating the time of 2:04:55 set by Paul Tergat of Kenya in winning the same race in 2003.
The Ethiopian, a two-time Olympic 10,000-metre champion, started racing marathons five years ago. He set three world records in both the 5,000 and 10,000 in the 1990s, but no longer holds those marks.
The IAAF also ratified Vladimir Kanaykin’s world record in the 20-kilometre race walk. The Russian’s time of 1:17:16 replaces the 1:17:21 mark of Jefferson Perez, which was set in 2003.
Lorna Kiplagat of the Netherlands now officially holds the world half marathon world record after her time of 1:06:25 in Udine, Italy, on Oct. 14 was cleared by the IAAF. Elana Meyer held the previous record of 1:06:44.
Kiplagat also set the 20-kilometre record in the same race. Her time of 1:02:57 replaces her own record of 1:03:21 that she set in October 2006.