Ethiopia’s Wudinesh Alemu, 19, improved the World U20 best in the half marathon on Oct. 18, winning the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon in just her second career appearance at the distance.
The World Athletics Gold Label Road Race in India’s capital has produced several internationally acclaimed performances, and the 2026 edition added another milestone as Alemu clocked 1:06:35 to claim the women’s title.
Her time sliced 12 seconds off the previous World U20 best of 1:06:47, set by compatriot Degitu Azimeraw in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, in 2018.
Azimeraw had won the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata the previous year, just weeks before setting the half-marathon mark. The Kolkata race has also produced world-best performances over 25 kilometres. Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo holds the men’s world best of 1:11:13, while Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa holds the women’s mark of 1:18:47.
Delhi’s history of standout performances
The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon has regularly attracted world-class fields, with notable performances in both the men’s and women’s races.
Yalemzerf Yehualaw, the 2020 women’s champion, ran 1:04:46, the second-fastest women’s half marathon performance worldwide that year.
Delhi has also provided a platform for emerging young distance runners. In 2017, men’s runner-up Andamlak Belihu clocked 59:51, the season’s fastest World U20 performance.
Similarly, Melal Siyoum, who finished second in the women’s race in 202
