Swedish distance runner Andreas Almgren has had an unimaginable 2025 season, and on Sunday on the Valencia Half Marathon in Spain, he completed one thing that has by no means been achieved earlier than by a non-African-born runner—breaking 59 minutes for a half-marathon.
The 30-year-old completed fourth behind a trio of Africans in 58:41, setting a brand new European report for the gap. Almgren obliterated the previous mark of 59:13 by 32 seconds, set by Switzerland’s Julien Wanders in 2019 on the RAK Half Marathon within the UAE.
To place Almgren’s time in perspective, he averaged 2:47 per kilometre for 21.1K, which is equal to a pace of 21.5 km/h.
For many years, East African-born athletes have dominated the all-time lists in each the half-marathon and marathon. Even with Almgren’s record-breaking efficiency, he nonetheless positioned fourth, and his time solely cracks the highest 50 on the World Athletics all-time checklist (although he stays the primary athlete born exterior Africa to run below 59 minutes).
This isn’t Almgren’s first European report. The 30-year-old additionally owns the European 10K report, which he set earlier this yr on the Valencia 10K. There should be one thing particular concerning the Spanish coastal metropolis.
European report + 5 nationwide data within the #21KValencia:
🇪🇺 🇸🇪 Andreas Almgren 58:41
🇧🇮 Rodrigue Religion 58:39
🇿🇦 Adriaan Wildschutt 59:13
🇸🇮 Klara Lukann 1:08:04
🇫🇷 Alessia Zarbo 1:08:20¡Congratulations!https://t.co/0yPizjrnvC
— Valencia Half Marathon (@MedioMaratonVLC) October 27, 2025
This newest report comes 5 weeks after Almgren gained his nation’s first-ever medal within the males’s 10,000m at a World Athletics Championships, taking bronze behind France’s Jimmy Gressier and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who, satirically, gained Sunday’s Valencia Half in 58:01.
In an interview final month with Sweden’s SVT Sport, Almgren alluded to him having a attainable future within the marathon…and based mostly on the success he’s had on the roads up to now, that future seems to be very vivid.
Swedish runner clocks two European data in the identical race
