World Athletics ratifies four world records, including Kejelcha’s

World Athletics announced on Monday 9 November 2026 that it had ratified four world records set between July and August in London, Buenos Aires and Zurich. They include Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha’s 56:51 half marathon, which saw him regain a record he had set in Valencia.

The other athletes whose world records were ratified by World Athletics are Britain’s Josh Kerr, in the mile, and Brazil’s Alison dos Santos and American Masai Russell, in the hurdles.

Kejelcha regains in Buenos Aires the record he set in Valencia

Kejelcha set his mark on 23 August at the Buenos Aires City Half Marathon, a World Athletics Label road race. The Ethiopian took 29 seconds off the 57:20 set by Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon on 8 March 2026.

The performance gave Kejelcha back the record he had set in Valencia in October 2024, when he ran 57:30. In Buenos Aires, he passed 10 km in 27:19 and covered the next five kilometres in 13:22, reaching 15 km in 40:41.

He passed 20 km in 54:04. Between 10 km and 20 km, he clocked a split of 26:45 before completing the distance.

Kerr improves the historic mile mark in London

Kerr was the first of the four athletes to set his record. He ran the mile in 3:42.66 on 18 July at the Novuna London Athletics Meet, a Wanda Diamond League meeting attended by 60,000 spectators.

The Briton, the 2023 world champion over 1,500 metres, beat Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:43.13, which had stood since 7 July 1999 in Rome. With the help of pacemakers, he passed 400 metres in 55.3 and 800 metres in 1:51.1, then reached 1,200 metres in 2:46.39. His 1,500-metre split of 3:27.62 was faster than his own British record for the distance.

Two hurdles records at the same meeting in Zurich

Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell set their marks on 27 August at the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting. The Brazilian, the 2022 world champion in the 400 metres hurdles, won in 45.80, taking 0.14 seconds off Karsten Warholm’s previous record of 45.94, set at the Tokyo Olympic Games on 3 August 2021. Warholm finished second in Zurich in 46.69.

Less than 40 minutes later, Russell ran the 100 metres hurdles in 12.09, with a wind reading of 0.0. The Olympic champion had come close to the record twice during the season before taking 0.03 seconds off Tobi Amusan’s 12.12 from the World Championships in Oregon on 24 July 2022. Amusan was second in Zurich in 12.23.