Marathon News - IAAF Ratifies Half-Marathon World Record

Jul-18-2007

IAAF Ratifies Half-Marathon World Record
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

The IAAF announced today that they had ratified Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru's most recent world record for the half-marathon, but had rejected his previous mark for lack of a proper doping control. Also, Wanjiru's record was ratified at a value two seconds faster than was previously reported.

At the Fortis City-Pier-City Half-Marathon in Den Haag on Saturday, March 17, Wanjiru was clocked at 58 minutes and 35 seconds, his second pending world record set this year (he also ran 58:53 at then Ras Al Khaimah International Half-Marathon in the United Arab Emirates on February 9).
Surprisingly, Wanjiru's mark from Den Haag has been revised downward by two seconds to 58:33. No explanation was given for the revision.

Wanjiru's previous record from the UAE was rejected by the IAAF because the athlete did not undergo a doping test for EPO, the blood-boosting drug which elevates the concentration of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

The new record surpasses Haile Gebrselassie's IAAF-ratified mark of 58:55 set in Phoenix, Ariz., on January 15, 2006, in a special record attempt held in conjunction with the P.F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Half-Marathon.

Wanjiru, 20, remains the only man to break the 59-minute barrier twice. He has stated his intention to compete in two of the world's most competitive half-marathons this fall: the Great North Run in Newcastle, England, on September 30, and the IAAF World Road Running Championshp in Udine, Italy, on October 14.