20 November 2023 | Athletics

Jacob Kiplimo had a stunning performance at the NN Zevenheuvelenloop in Nijmegen on Sunday, November 19.

The World cross-country champion who only returned to action from injury at the end of last month with a convincing win at the Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Atapuerca equalled the world 15km best with 41:05.

Kiplimo was forced to miss the World Championships in Budapest and the World Road Running Championships in Riga through injury but on Sunday, the Ugandan notched up another victory.

Kiplimo was 99 seconds ahead of compatriot Rogers Kibet and his time of 41:05 equals the world best set five years ago, coincidentally another compatriot Joshua Cheptegei.

He started out at a relatively conservative pace and reached 3km in 8:42, 23 seconds down on Cheptegei’s pace from 2018, but got to 5km in 14:24.

As Kibet was struggling to keep up, Kiplimo was out in front alone and he passed through 8km in 22:31 with a 24-second margin over his compatriot. He, however, reached the 10km checkpoint in 27:49, the exact same time Cheptegei recorded during his landmark run.

Kiplimo ran the final kilometre in 2:31 – his fastest of the race – coming home in 41:05. Kibet held on to second place in 42:44, securing a Ugandan 1-2.

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