He made his breakthrough into the top of his field at the 2012 CPC Loop Den Haag, running a big personal best of 58:54 minutes to win the race ahead of pre-race favourite Jonathan Maiyo. This result placed Kibet as the second fastest half marathoner in the world that year (behind Atsedu Tsegay) and moved him up to seventh on the all-time lists. At the Rotterdam Marathon he gave his best performance yet over the distance with a run of 2:08:05 hours for fourth place. In August he had top three finishes at the Beach to Beacon and Falmouth races. Kibet was a prominent entrant at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, his first international selection, but ended in sixth place over a minute behind winner Zersenay Tadese. However, this performance helping Kenya to the team gold medals. Despite his rise as an individual athlete, he acted as pacemaker at the Seoul International Marathon in November.