Ratified: world records for Hoey, Kejelcha and Yamanishi
by 1st June 2026
Men’s 10km
26:31 Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) Castellón, 16 February 2025
Men’s 800m short track
1:42.50 Josh Hoey (USA) Boston, 24 January 2026
Men’s half marathon race walk
1:20:34 Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN) Kobe, 15 February 2026
Women’s U20 1500m short track
4:01.23 Saron Berhe (ETH) Ostrava, 3 February 2026
Men’s U20 800m short track
1:44.03 Cooper Lutkenhaus (USA) Winston Salem, 14 February 2026
Men’s U20 200m
19.67 Gout Gout (AUS) Sydney, 12 April 2026
World records by Josh Hoey, Yomif Kejelcha and Toshikazu Yamanishi have been ratified by World Athletics, while world U20 records by Saron Berhe, Cooper Lutkenhaus and Gout Gout are also now official.
The ratification of Kejelcha’s 26:31 as the men’s world 10km record follows the disqualification of Rhonex Kipruto’s 26:24. Kipruto set that mark in Valencia in January 2020 but has since received a suspension and had results annulled due to an anti-doping rule violation.
Ethiopia’s Kejelcha clocked 26:31 in Castellón on 16 February 2025 and that is the next best ratifiable performance.
As a result, the two-time world 10,000m silver medallist becomes a two-time world record-holder, adding the world 10km record to the world half marathon record of 57:30 he set in Valencia in 2024.
USA’s Hoey achieved his world 800m short track record at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix – the first World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold?meeting of the season – on 24 January.
Running 1:42.50, he took 0.17 off the world record of 1:42.67 set by Wilson Kipketer at the World Indoor Championships in Paris in 1997.
“This is far from the end of the journey,” he said afterwards. “We’re actually sort of close to the beginning, so I feel excited about it.”
Japan’s Yamanishi set an inaugural world half marathon race walk record by clocking 1:20:34 at the Japanese Half Marathon Race Walking Championships – a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze meeting – in Kobe on 15 February.
In doing so, the two-time world gold medallist achieved the first performance to surpass the inaugural world record standard of 1:21:30 that was approved by the World Athletics Council in December, following the announcement that the?half marathon and marathon would become the official senior road distances for race walking events.
Ethiopia’s world U20 champion Berhe ran 4:01.23 to set a world U20 1500m short track record in Ostrava on 3 February, the 18-year-old beating the 4:01.57 set by her Ethiopian compatriot Lemlem Hailu in 2020.
USA’s Lutkenhaus clocked 1:44.03 in Winston Salem on 14 February to improve the world U20 800m short track record of 1:44.35 set by Russia’s Yuriy Borzakovskiy in 2000. Lutkenhaus went on to become the youngest winner of any event at a World Championships, indoors or out – the 17-year-old claiming the world indoor 800m title in Kujawy Pomorze in March.
Australian sprinter Gout stormed to his world U20 200m record of 19.67 when retaining his title at the Australian Championships in Sydney on 12 April.
The 18-year-old smashed his previous PB of 20.02, which was also the senior Oceanian record. He also took 0.02 off the world U20 record of 19.69 set by Erriyon Knighton in Eugene in 2022.
All three athletes – Berhe, Lutkenhaus and Gout – will be eligible to compete at the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 in August.