# 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

The 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 12 October 2008.
This event was first announced as the 2008 IAAF World Road Running Championships, but in November 2007, the IAAF announced that the name of the IAAF World Road Running Championships would revert to its original title of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given both for the men's race and for the women's race.

## Medallists

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Individual |||||||
| Men | Zersenay Tadesse (ERI) | 59:56 | Patrick Makau Musyoki (KEN) | 1:01:54 | Ahmed Hassan Abdullah (QAT) | 1:01:57 |
| Women | Lornah Kiplagat (NED) | 1:08:37 | Aselefech Mergia (ETH) | 1:09:57 | Pamela Chepchumba (KEN) | 1:10:01 |
| Team |||||||
| Team Men | Kenya | 3:07:24 | Eritrea | 3:09:40 | Qatar | 3:10:52 |
| Team Women | Ethiopia | 3:30:59 | Kenya | 3:31:24 | Japan | 3:40:58 |

## Race results

Complete results were published for the men's race, for the women's race, for men's team, and for women's team.

### Men's

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Zersenay Tadesse | Eritrea | 59:56 | CR |
| | Patrick Makau Musyoki | Kenya | 1:01:54 | |
| | Ahmed Hassan Abdullah | Qatar | 1:01:57 | SB |
| 4 | Stephen Kipkoech Kibiwott | Kenya | 1:01:58 | |
| 5 | Yusei Nakao | Japan | 1:02:05 | |
| 6 | Dieudonné Disi | Rwanda | 1:03:03 | |
| 7 | Abebe Dinkessa | Ethiopia | 1:03:04 | |
| 8 | Marilson dos Santos | Brazil | 1:03:14 | |
| 9 | Joseph Maregu | Kenya | 1:03:32 | |
| 10 | Essa Ismail Rashed | Qatar | 1:03:57 | PB |
| 11 | Sylvain Rukundo | Rwanda | 1:04:02 | SB |
| 12 | Michael Tesfay | Eritrea | 1:04:04 | SB |
| 13 | Eshetu Wondemu | Ethiopia | 1:04:11 | |
| 14 | Raji Assefa | Ethiopia | 1:04:32 | |
| 15 | Ignacio Cáceres | Spain | 1:04:39 | |
| 16 | Michael Shelley | Australia | 1:04:44 | |
| 17 | Pedro Mora | Venezuela | 1:04:45 | SB |
| 18 | Dereje Tesfaye | Ethiopia | 1:04:57 | |
| 19 | Ali Dawoud Sedam | Qatar | 1:04:58 | SB |
| 20 | Giomar da Silva | Brazil | 1:05:07 | SB |
| 21 | Jason Lehmkuhle | United States | 1:05:17 | |
| 22 | Tshamano Setone | South Africa | 1:05:20 | |
| 23 | Anatoliy Rybakov | Russia | 1:05:38 | |
| 24 | James Theuri | France | 1:05:38 | |
| 25 | Mogos Ahferom | Eritrea | 1:05:40 | PB |
| 26 | Iván Galán | Spain | 1:05:42 | |
| 27 | João de Lima | Brazil | 1:05:46 | |
| 28 | Franck de Almeida | Brazil | 1:05:52 | SB |
| 29 | Yemane Teame | Eritrea | 1:05:56 | PB |
| 30 | Yevgeniy Rybakov | Russia | 1:05:59 | |
| 31 | Andrew Smith | Canada | 1:06:10 | |
| 32 | Yukihiro Kitaoka | Japan | 1:06:26 | |
| 33 | Mikhail Lemaev | Russia | 1:06:35 | |
| 34 | Javier Díaz | Spain | 1:06:37 | |
| 35 | Rod Koborsi | United States | 1:06:46 | |
| 36 | Sultan Khamis Zaman | Qatar | 1:06:50 | SB |
| 37 | Kazuo Ietani | Japan | 1:06:57 | |
| 38 | Keenetse Moswasi | Botswana | 1:07:08 | SB |
| 39 | Jeffrey Gwebu | South Africa | 1:07:08 | |
| 40 | Felix Kibore | Qatar | 1:07:10 | PB |
| 41 | Kaelo Mosalagae | Botswana | 1:07:12 | SB |
| 42 | Jorge Cabrera | Paraguay | 1:07:26 | SB |
| 43 | Dmitriy Semyonov | Russia | 1:07:40 | |
| 44 | Fabrice Jaouen | France | 1:07:41 | |
| 45 | Gervais Hakizimana | Rwanda | 1:07:57 | |
| 46 | Cristinel Irimia | Romania | 1:08:11 | |
| 47 | Jesper Faurschou | Denmark | 1:08:14 | |
| 48 | Artur Kozłowski | Poland | 1:08:24 | |
| 49 | Tetsuo Nishimura | Japan | 1:08:34 | |
| 50 | Vladimir Guerra | Ecuador | 1:08:36 | |
| 51 | Ivanildo dos Anjos | Brazil | 1:08:38 | |
| 52 | Moorosi Soke | South Africa | 1:08:41 | |
| 53 | Steve Sundell | United States | 1:08:47 | |
| 54 | Lameck Mosoti | Kenya | 1:08:49 | |
| 55 | Ulises Sanguinetti | Argentina | 1:09:08 | |
| 56 | Rolando Pillco | Bolivia | 1:09:51 | PB |
| 57 | Stéphane Joly | Switzerland | 1:09:56 | PB |
| 58 | Cleveland Forde | Guyana | 1:10:20 | PB |
| 59 | Kabo Gabaseme | Botswana | 1:10:33 | SB |
| 60 | Miguel Ángel Almachi | Ecuador | 1:10:34 | PB |
| 61 | Didimo Sánchez | Venezuela | 1:10:36 | |
| 62 | Julien Moreau | France | 1:10:40 | |
| 63 | Siphesihle Mdluli | Swaziland | 1:10:47 | SB |
| 64 | Ernesto Zamora | Uruguay | 1:11:01 | SB |
| 65 | Vasyl Matviychuk | Ukraine | 1:11:12 | |
| 66 | Oswaldo Belandria | Venezuela | 1:11:23 | |
| 67 | Stephen Mokoka | South Africa | 1:11:45 | |
| 68 | Wilson Videla | Argentina | 1:11:53 | |
| 69 | Mark Tucker | Australia | 1:12:04 | SB |
| 70 | Julio César Pérez | Mexico | 1:12:42 | SB |
| 71 | Richard Jones | Trinidad and Tobago | 1:13:01 | SB |
| 72 | Paulo Buenaño | Ecuador | 1:13:02 | |
| 73 | Patrick Gildea | United States | 1:14:06 | |
| 74 | Gustavo Comba | Argentina | 1:14:35 | |
| 75 | Thibaud Naël | France | 1:14:50 | |
| 76 | Fernando Blanco | Panama | 1:14:50 | |
| 77 | Wang Enjun | China | 1:15:19 | PB |
| 78 | Gustavo López | Paraguay | 1:15:33 | PB |
| 79 | Alejandro Cuahtepizi | Mexico | 1:16:53 | SB |
| 80 | Bernardo Jiménez | Dominican Republic | 1:17:39 | |
| 81 | Guido Benedetti | Argentina | 1:17:44 | |
| 82 | Delvis Sánchez | Venezuela | 1:18:02 | |
| 83 | Masato Kihara | Japan | 1:20:05 | |
| 84 | Ryan Kirkpatrick | United States | 1:20:50 | |
| 85 | Chan Chan Kit | Macau | 1:25:14 | |
| 86 | Dario Nuñez | Argentina | 1:28:24 | |
| — | Deriba Merga | Ethiopia | DNF | |
| — | Mekubo Mogusu | Kenya | DNF | |
| — | Tim Rogers | Norfolk Island | DNF | |
| — | Lindihaya Mthangayi | South Africa | DNF | |
| — | Samson Kiflemariam | Eritrea | DNS | |
| — | Jussi Utriainen | Finland | DNS | |

### Women's

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 1:08:37 | SB |
| | Aselefech Mergia | Ethiopia | 1:09:57 | PB |
| | Pamela Chepchumba | Kenya | 1:10:01 | |
| 4 | Genet Getaneh | Ethiopia | 1:10:03 | PB |
| 5 | Peninah Arusei | Kenya | 1:10:12 | |
| 6 | Abebu Gelan | Ethiopia | 1:10:59 | PB |
| 7 | Julia Mombi Muraga | Kenya | 1:11:11 | |
| 8 | Atsede Habtamu | Ethiopia | 1:11:13 | |
| 9 | Luminița Talpoș | Romania | 1:11:16 | SB |
| 10 | Yukiko Akaba | Japan | 1:11:39 | |
| 11 | Meseret Mengistu | Ethiopia | 1:12:03 | PB |
| 12 | Furtuna Zegergish | Eritrea | 1:12:16 | SB |
| 13 | Dulce Félix | Portugal | 1:12:56 | |
| 14 | Pauline Ngigi | Kenya | 1:12:58 | |
| 15 | Yesenia Centeno | Spain | 1:13:01 | |
| 16 | Azucena Díaz | Spain | 1:13:30 | |
| 17 | Maria Baldaia | Brazil | 1:13:42 | SB |
| 18 | Olesya Syreva | Russia | 1:14:08 | |
| 19 | Miki Ohira | Japan | 1:14:27 | |
| 20 | Lyudmila Biktasheva | Russia | 1:14:33 | |
| 21 | Melissa White | United States | 1:14:37 | |
| 22 | Yuko Machida | Japan | 1:14:52 | |
| 23 | Ikuyo Yamashita | Japan | 1:15:05 | |
| 24 | Dorothy McMaham | United States | 1:15:14 | |
| 25 | Kristen Nicolini | United States | 1:15:15 | |
| 26 | Angeline Nyiransabimana | Rwanda | 1:15:23 | SB |
| 27 | Stephanie Herbst | United States | 1:15:25 | PB |
| 28 | Maria Sig Møller | Denmark | 1:15:30 | |
| 29 | Rosa Godoy | Argentina | 1:15:31 | PB |
| 30 | Jill Steffens | United States | 1:16:02 | PB |
| 31 | Christine Bardelle | France | 1:16:17 | |
| 32 | Dorota Gruca-Giezek | Poland | 1:16:46 | |
| 33 | María Díaz | Puerto Rico | 1:16:52 | NR |
| 34 | Marizete dos Santos | Brazil | 1:17:04 | SB |
| 35 | Maria Isabel Montilla | Venezuela | 1:17:19 | |
| 36 | Yolanda Fernández | Colombia | 1:17:27 | |
| 37 | Sharon Tavengwa | Zimbabwe | 1:18:30 | |
| 38 | Yamna Oubouhou | France | 1:18:39 | |
| 39 | Angélica Sánchez | Mexico | 1:18:49 | |
| 40 | Wendy Nicholls/Jones | Great Britain | 1:18:52 | |
| 41 | Zenaida Maldonado | Puerto Rico | 1:19:28 | PB |
| 42 | Zuleima Amaya | Venezuela | 1:20:01 | |
| 43 | Tatyana Khmeleva-Aryasova | Russia | 1:20:06 | |
| 44 | Judith Ramírez | Mexico | 1:20:18 | |
| 45 | Edielza Guimarães | Brazil | 1:20:25 | |
| 46 | Sonia Calizaya | Bolivia | 1:20:34 | SB |
| 47 | Michelle Ross-Cope | Great Britain | 1:20:43 | |
| 48 | Oksana Sklyarenko | Ukraine | 1:21:11 | SB |
| 49 | Roxana Preussler | Argentina | 1:22:29 | |
| 50 | Estela María Martínez | Argentina | 1:22:51 | |
| 51 | Magdalena Luca | Romania | 1:23:37 | |
| 52 | Mileydy Jaimes | Venezuela | 1:23:38 | |
| 53 | Susana Rebolledo | Chile | 1:24:18 | |
| 54 | Jiang Chengcheng | China | 1:26:20 | SB |
| 55 | Paula Todoran | Romania | 1:27:51 | |
| 56 | Rosa America Rodríguez | Venezuela | 1:28:49 | |
| 57 | Rosângela Faria | Brazil | 1:29:11 | |
| 58 | Andreina De La Rosa | Dominican Republic | 1:29:30 | PB |
| 59 | Marisol Redón | Uruguay | 1:31:20 | SB |
| 60 | Chao Fong Leng | Macau | 1:38:08 | SB |
| — | Marizete Rezende | Brazil | DNF | |
| — | Carmen Vallés | Puerto Rico | DNF | |
| — | Alina Ivanova | Russia | DNF | |
| — | Ntombesintu Mfunzi | South Africa | DNF | |
| — | Johanna van Schalkwyk | South Africa | DNF | |

## Team results
### Men's

| Rank | Country | Team | Time |
| | Kenya | Patrick Makau Musyoki Stephen Kipkoech Kibiwott Joseph Maregu | 3:07:24 |
| | Eritrea | Zersenay Tadesse Michael Tesfay Mogos Ahferom | 3:09:40 |
| | Qatar | Ahmed Hassan Abdullah Essa Ismail Rashed Ali Dawoud Sedam | 3:10:52 |
| 4 | Ethiopia | Abebe Dinkessa Eshetu Wondemu Raji Assefa | 3:11:47 |
| 5 | Brazil | Marilson dos Santos Giomar da Silva João de Lima | 3:14:07 |
| 6 | Rwanda | Dieudonné Disi Sylvain Rukundo Gervais Hakizimana | 3:15:02 |
| 7 | Japan | Yusei Nakao Yukihiro Kitaoka Kazuo Ietani | 3:15:28 |
| 8 | Spain | Ignacio Cáceres Iván Galán Javier Díaz | 3:16:58 |
| 9 | Russia | Anatoliy Rybakov Yevgeniy Rybakov Mikhail Lemaev | 3:18:12 |
| 10 | United States | Jason Lehmkuhle Rod Koborsi Steve Sundell | 3:20:50 |
| 11 | South Africa | Tshamano Setone Jeffrey Gwebu Moorosi Soke | 3:21:09 |
| 12 | France | James Theuri Fabrice Jaouen Julien Moreau | 3:23:59 |
| 13 | Botswana | Keenetse Moswasi Kaelo Mosalagae Kabo Gabaseme | 3:24:53 |
| 14 | Venezuela | Pedro Mora Didimo Sánchez Oswaldo Belandria | 3:26:44 |
| 15 | Ecuador | Vladimir Guerra Miguel Ángel Almachi Paulo Buenaño | 3:32:12 |
| 16 | Argentina | Ulises Sanguinetti Wilson Videla Gustavo Comba | 3:35:36 |

### Women's

| Rank | Country | Team | Time |
| | Ethiopia | Aselefech Mergia Genet Getaneh Abebu Gelan | 3:30:59 |
| | Kenya | Pamela Chepchumba Peninah Arusei Julia Mombi Muraga | 3:31:24 |
| | Japan | Yukiko Akaba Miki Ohira Yuko Machida | 3:40:58 |
| 4 | United States | Melissa White Dorothy McMaham Kristen Nicolini | 3:45:06 |
| 5 | Russia | Olesya Syreva Lyudmila Biktasheva Tatyana Khmeleva-Aryasova | 3:48:47 |
| 6 | Brazil | Maria Baldaia Marizete dos Santos Edielza Guimarães | 3:51:11 |
| 7 | Argentina | Rosa Godoy Roxana Preussler Estela María Martínez | 4:00:51 |
| 8 | Venezuela | Maria Isabel Montilla Zuleima Amaya Mileydy Jaimes | 4:00:58 |
| — | Puerto Rico | María Díaz Zenaida Maldonado Carmen Vallés | DNF |

## Participation

The participation of 155 athletes (90 men/65 women) from 42 countries is reported. Although announced, athletes from Finland did not show.
* Argentina (8)
* Australia (2)
* Bolivia (2)
* Botswana (3)
* Brazil (10)
* Canada (1)
* Chile (1)
* China (2)
* Colombia (1)
* Denmark (2)
* Dominican Republic (2)
* Ecuador (3)
* Eritrea (5)
* Ethiopia (10)
* France (6)
* Guyana (1)
* Japan (9)
* Kenya (9)
* Macau (2)
* Mexico (4)
* Netherlands (1)
* Norfolk Island (1)
* Panama (1)
* Paraguay (2)
* Poland (2)
* Portugal (1)
* Puerto Rico (3)
* Qatar (5)
* Romania (4)
* Russia (8)
* Rwanda (4)
* South Africa (7)
* Spain (5)
* Swaziland (1)
* Switzerland (1)
* Trinidad and Tobago (1)
* Ukraine (2)
* United Kingdom (2)
* United States (10)
* Uruguay (2)
* Venezuela (8)
* Zimbabwe (1)