Addis Ababa, February 16, 2025 (FMC) — Yomif Kejelcha and Medina Eisa secured an Ethiopian double at the 10K Facsa Castellón, a World Athletics Label road race, held in the Spanish coastal city on Sunday (16).
While Kejelcha targeted the world record of 26:24 and had to settle for a 26:30 clocking to move to second on the men’s world all-time list, debutant Eisa also impressed with a 29:24 performance to finish well ahead her compatriot Likina Amebaw. Eisa’s winning time and Amebaw’s PB of 29:39 move the pair to fourth and ninth respectively on the women’s all-time list.
Kejelcha, who lost his world half marathon record some two minutes after crossing the finish line in Castellón following Jacob Kiplimo’s impressive effort in Barcelona, improved on his PB of 26:37 and broke the Ethiopian record of 26:33 held by Berihu Aregawi.
Perfectly paced by Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera, Kejelcha covered the opening kilometres at the required pace to attack the world record as he clocked 2:36 for the opening kilometre and then reached 2km in 5:13 and 3km in 7:51. Kejelcha was even running slightly ahead of Kwizera at some points, like he was demanding a quicker rhythm, and despite the frantic cadence the pair were accompanied by the Ethiopian teenager duo of Yismaw Dillu and debutant Kuma Girma.
It was Dillu who first dropped from the leading pack, which went through the halfway point in 13:13, just a single second behind the world record pace. A few metres on, Kwizera dropped out and Kejelcha took charge of the race while Girma hung on to run at his compatriot’s shoulder.
Girma’s resistance came to an end before the sixth kilometre, with the 19-year-old having competed barely 36 hours earlier in Lievin over 3000m. At that point Kejelcha maintained the world record mood thanks to a 15:50 clocking and the same went for the following kilometre as he reached the 7km mark in 18:28. However, an uncomfortable fog hampered Kejelcha’s effort over the closing kilometres and he lost some valuable seconds over the closing stages.
He still managed to achieve the second quickest 10km time in history of 26:30 while Girma, the younger brother of the Olympic and three-time world 3000m steeplechase silver medallist Lamecha Girma, produced a remarkable debut with a 26:57 performance. Kenya’s Brian Kibor completed the podium in 27:04, while France’s European 3000m steeplechase silver medallist Djilali Bedrani was the leading European athlete as he clocked 27:57 for seventh.
“I was absolutely convinced I would break the world record today,” said a disappointed Kejelcha. “It’s a setback for me.”
Successful debut for Eisa
The women’s event witnessed brilliant outings by the Ethiopian pair of world U20 5km record-holder Eisa and the Spain-based Amebaw. In the absence of pacemakers, the 20-year-old Eisa kicked off like a bullet as she went through the opening kilometre in 2:48 with Amebaw some 20 metres behind her in 2:51.
Sandwiched between male athletes, Eisa slowed her frantic pace over the following kilometres but she still covered every kilometre well under 3:00 to reach the 3km mark in 8:40 and the halfway point in 14:35, just 12 seconds slower than the world U20 record she set in Barcelona on 31 December. By then, Amebaw was a comfortable second some 14 seconds in arrears. Well behind that pair, Ethiopia’s Aynadis Mebratu and Kenya’s Cintia Chepngeno fought hard for the third place on the podium another 12 seconds behind.
Over the second half, Eisa managed to maintain her 2:57/2:58 rhythm and also her margin over a consistent Amebaw who also ran inside 3:00 per kilometre pace.
The talented Eisa crossed the finish line in 29:24 to move to fourth all-time, just 10 seconds outside the Ethiopian record set by Yalemzef Yehualaw in Castellón in 2022 – a performance that was a world record at the time.
Amebaw’s reward was a 17-second improvement on her previous best in addition to her runner-up place, while Mebratu completed a sweep for Ethiopia timed at 30:04 to Chepngeno’s 30:16.