Fine Kiplimo sweeps New York

Kiplimo knew the conditions in place would be tough hence breaking his own world record would have have been a tall order in the Big Apple.

Yet, he still maintained his rhythm and class as a superb road runner by outsmarting the field including Cheptegei to win the event in a time of one hour, one minute and 31 seconds in Central Park. 

Cheptegei, had needed to hold off Moroccan Zouhair Talbi in the closing stages, finish second in a time of 1:02:09. 

Cheptegei’s coach Addy Ruiter and his management Global Sports Communication (GSC) were clear that they had no specific targets for their star athlete, understandably so as Cheptegei had no specifically prepared for a 21km event.

On the other hand, Kiplimo is a fine gem on the road, evidenced by his World Half-Marathon title in Gdynia, Poland three years ago and the World Cross-country titles over the junior 8km and senior 10km events of 2017 and last month in Kampala and Bathurst, Australia respectively. 

So when he arrived in New York in company of Cheptegei on Wednesday, Kiplimo was the outright favourite. 

The elite field was still compact with 17 men after 10km as the wind conditions remained present before and after the Manhattan Bridge. 

Kiplimo, clad in a black head sock, white t-shirt, orange bib, green shoes and blue shorts, kept on the left of the group. Cheptegei was still within the pack, not far from the runners ahead. 

Some 4km later, a pack of five men had peeled away from the rest, and it all seemed to be playing into Kiplimo’s notebook. 

Kiplimo shortly after hit the front on the 15th kilometre, Talbi following and Cheptegei behind.

While approaching the Times Square, Cheptegei was now into second place, Kiplimo leading by about seven meters.

It wasn’t long before Kiplimo peeled away from the rest as he went past the grand billboards and screens through Square enroute to Central Park. 

He didn’t look back for the last nine minutes of the race, powering to his seventh victory in eight 21km career races. Talbi completed the podium nine seconds behind Cheptegei. 

While Kiplimo has had a perfect start to 2023, he will now head back to a training regime ahead of his quest for the double at the Budapest World Championships in Hungary come for August.

For Cheptegei, who won bronze in Bathurst, he will attempt to polish up over the next four months before chasing a back-to-back-to-back 10000m world title success in Budapest. 

NEW YORK CITY HALF MARATHON

MEN’S RESULT

1 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) 1:01:31

2 Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 1:02:09

3 Zouhair Talbi (MAR) 1:02:18

4 Ben True (USA) 1:02:57

5 Edward Cheserek (USA) 1:02:58