Samuel Barata broke the Portuguese half marathon record this Sunday, becoming the first Portuguese man to break the hour, completing the course in 59.40 minutes in Valencia, Spain.
With this mark, Barata, who finished 14th in Valencia, moved more than a minute off the previous national best, held by Luis Jesus from 1997, when he ran in 1:00.56 hours.
On October 1, at the World Half Marathon Championships in Riga, Samuel Barata had already achieved the second fastest time in Portuguese history with a time of 1:01.29 hours.
Last month in Brasov, Romania, measurement errors prevented the Benfica athlete, who had already expressed his desire to qualify for the marathon at the Olympics, from setting national records in the 5,000m and 10,000m.
In the race won by Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandy (57.40 minutes), Rui Pinto was 27th in 1:02.24 hours, eight seconds off his personal best.