Editor's Review
Middle-distance star Emmanuel Wanyonyi has had his men’s 1000m world record ratified by World Athletics after his historic performance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
Middle-distance star Emmanuel Wanyonyi has had his men’s 1000m world record ratified by World Athletics after his historic performance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 10.
In an update on Thursday, September 3, World Athletics confirmed that he clocked 2:11.83 to become the first athlete in almost 27 years to break the men’s 1000m world record.
Wanyonyi's mark erased the previous record of 2:11.96 set by fellow Kenyan Noah Ngeny in Rieti, Italy, on September 5, 1999.
Making his debut over the distance, he followed the pacemakers through the opening stages, passing 400m in 50.95 and 800m in 1:45.11 before taking control of the race.
Wanyonyi then held off a strong challenge from Britain’s Jake Wightman over the final lap to secure victory in 2:11.83, with Wightman finishing second in 2:12.77.
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His time improved Ngeny’s long-standing world record by 0.13 seconds, placing his name alongside the Kenyan legend in the history of the event.
The 1000m mark was among three world records officially ratified, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo also having his men’s half marathon record of 57:20 confirmed.
Kiplimo set the record at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on March 8, 2026, returning to the city where he had established his first world record over the distance in 2021.
Running without pacemakers, Kiplimo passed 5km in 13:28 and reached 10km alongside Nicholas Kipkorir in 27:00.
The pair remained together through 15km in 40:52 before Kiplimo increased the pace, covering the next 5km in 13:31 and going on to win in 57:20.
His performance improved the previous ratified world record of 57:30, set by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia on October 27, 2024, by 10 seconds.
Kejelcha has since gone faster than Kiplimo, clocking 56:51 at the Media Maratón Ciudad de Buenos Aires on August 23.
The performance lowered Kiplimo’s mark by 29 seconds but remains subject to the usual ratification procedure.
The third record ratified was in the men’s 110m hurdles, where American Ja’Kobe Tharp ran 12.75 seconds with a following wind of 1.0m/s at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on June 10, 2026.
Tharp produced the record-breaking performance in the semifinals, powering away from the field after a strong start and maintaining his rhythm through to the finish.
His 12.75 represented a major improvement on his previous personal best of 13.01 and lowered the previous world record of 12.80, set by fellow American hurdler Aries Merritt in Brussels on September 7, 2012, by 0.05 seconds.
This comes weeks after marathon star Sabastian Sawe's historic sub-two-hour marathon was officially ratified as a world record.
The achievement was ratified alongside eight other world records, including Tigst Assefa's women's marathon record, Mondo Duplantis' pole vault mark and Yan Ziyi's U20 women's javelin record.
Sawe and Assefa produced world-record performances in the men's and women's races while retaining their titles at the TCS London Marathon on April 26, 2026.
Sawe became the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon when he clocked 1:59:30 in London.
His performance lowered the previous men's marathon world record of 2:00:35, set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago on October 8, 2023, by 65 seconds.
Sawe was involved in a historic battle with Kejelcha and Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo before making his decisive move with one mile remaining.
Sawe pulled away from his rivals to win in 1:59:30, while Kejelcha also broke the two-hour barrier after finishing in 1:59:41.
Kiplimo completed the podium in 2:00:28.
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