Early life
Kiplimo was born on 14 November 2000. [1] A member of the Sebei ethnic group, he grew up in Kween on Mount Elgon, living at a high altitude. [2] His family grew maize. As a young child, Kiplimo would watch his older brothers train for athletic events. He would also travel to school by running a distance of 5 km. Kiplimo won a selection trial for the World Mountain Running Championships in 2015 but was not allowed to compete due to his age. Kiplimo then moved to Italy and began competing in events. After winning a 2017 cross country event in Uganda, he moved back. [3]
At the age of fifteen, Kiplimo won the 10,000 metres bronze medal at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships behind fellow East Africans Rodgers Kwemoi and Aron Kifle. He ran 5000 metres in Rome that May at 13:24:40 minutes, which was a qualifying time for the Olympics. Kiplimo was then selected for 2016 Summer Olympics. [2] Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, he improved his 5000 m best to 13:19.54 minutes. As the youngest entrant to the competition, he ran in the Olympic heats only, recording a time of 13:30.40 minutes for 11th in his race. [4] He was the youngest ever competitor for Uganda at the Olympic Games. [5] [6]
At 16, Kiplimo won gold in the men's U20 race at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, the country's first-ever gold medal at a World Cross, covering a 8 km course in 22:40 minutes. [7] He won the San Silvestre Vallecana 10 km road race in Madrid in a time of 26:41 on 31 December 2018. The course had an elevation drop, making it ineligible for world record status. [8]
Career
2019
At the Ugandan Cross Country Championships on 16 February in Tororo, Kiplimo defeated Joshua Cheptegei by placing first and second, respectively. In the men's senior race over 10 km, Kiplimo won by an 11-second lead over the 10,000 m world championship runner-up. [9]
At the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, Kiplimo finished second in the senior men's race four seconds after Joshua Cheptegei's winning time of 31:40. He won the gold medal in the teams ranking with Cheptegei from Uganda. [10]
Kiplimo did not run in the 10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Doha because of an injury. [11] [12]
On 31 December, Kiplimo ran the Saint Silvester Road Race (15 km) in São Paulo and was beaten by Kibiwott Kandie at the finish line. Kandie won in 42:59, a new course record, with Kiplimo finishing in 43:00. [13]
2021
On 21 March 2021, Kiplimo competed at the Campaccio cross country race in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Despite falling during the ninth kilometer of the race, he won a 10 km in 29:07. Ethiopia's Nibret Melak finished second, and Kiplimo's younger brother Oscar Chelimo finished third. [18] On 19 May, Kiplimo returned to the track racing 10,000 m at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike. He pulled away from Bahrain's Birhanu Balew to win the race. Kiplimo finished in a personal best time of 26:33.93, which made him the seventh-fastest 10,000 m performer of all time and the second-fastest Ugandan in history over the distance behind world record holder Joshua Cheptegei's 26:11.00. [19]
On 21 November 2021, Kiplimo set a half marathon world record at 57:31 in Lisbon. [20] His record was broken by Yomif Kejelcha, who ran a time of 57:30 at the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon. [21]
2025
On 16 February, Kiplimo regained the world record in the half marathon, finishing the Barcelona Half Marathon in 56 minutes and 42 seconds. [23]
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