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IAAF org.: Kirui takes gold as Kenya wins back World Half Marathon Team Title in New Delhi

First man ever to win a World Half Marathon title on Asian soil

2004-10-04

Sunday 3 October 2004 New Delhi - Kenya’s Paul Kirui (see image, Kirui winning the 24th Bewag BERLIN HALFMARATHON) became the first man ever to win a World Half Marathon title on Asian soil when he crossed the finish line in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to take gold in the 13th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

After a sixty second lap of the track in the stadium, the men’s race set off as the sun broke through the cloud cover and the temperatures started to rise in New Delhi.

The tail end of the monsoon season had brought torrential downpours the night before and the air was relatively clear for this city of 11 million people, with the temperatures moderate at 25 degrees centigrade, with 80% humidity making sure that the athletes did not have too easy a time of it.

The early pace was set by Eritrean Yonas Kifle, who led the field through 5 kilometres in 14:48, seven seconds ahead of the rest of the leaders. The East African teams of Eritrea, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia were closely bunched at this point, with just nine seconds separating the first twenty runners at the 5 km mark.

As the leading pack of twelve runners entered the stadium after reaching halfway in 29:66, Kenya had taken control, with Wilson Kiprotich Kebenel heading the leaders as they circuited the track before heading off for another lap of the course.

Paul Kirui leads the pack
At this stage, four countries were clearly in contention for the team title, with Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea and Ethiopia all having three runners among the leaders.

Race favourites John Cheruiyot Korir and Tanzania’s 2003 silver medalist Fabiano Joseph ...