Kenya\u2019s Agnes Ngetich stormed to a women-only world half marathon record of 1:05:15 to win her second global title of the year at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sweden\u2019s Andreas Almgren outkicked Kenya\u2019s Nicholas Kipkorir to win the men’s half marathon title in a European record of 58:06.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominating the race, the 25-year-old Ngetich won by 50 seconds ahead of her teammate Veronica Loleo to add the world half marathon title to the world cross-country crown she claimed in Tallahassee in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like in Tallahassee, Ngetich was a class apart. As she strode over the finish line, she took one second off the world record for a women-only race of 1:05:16 set by her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir when winning the world half marathon title in Gdynia in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ngetich now holds three world records \u2013 adding this latest performance to her world 10km records of 28:46 set in a mixed race and 29:27 achieved in a women-only race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ngetich was aggressive from the start in Copenhagen. She went straight to the front and covered the first kilometre in around three minutes, continuing down \u00d8sterbrogade and past the Trianglen in control. She was 10 seconds ahead by the 5km mark, which she reached in 15:12, and she extended that advantage to 26 seconds ahead of an eight-strong chase pack by 10km, with 30:39 on the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gap grew again, to 53 seconds by 15km, reached by Ngetich in 46:17. Rwanda\u2019s Florence Niyonkuru remained a strong member of the chase group, running alongside Kenya\u2019s Daisilah Jerono and USA\u2019s Emma Grace Hurley as they completed 15km in 47:10. They were joined by Loleo, USA\u2019s Weini Kelati Frezghi and Ethiopia\u2019s Ftaw Zeray, as USA\u2019s Jessica McClain and Ethiopia\u2019s Tsigie Gebreselama were dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ngetich forged ahead, hitting the 20km mark in 1:01:56, 51 seconds ahead of her rivals, and she held on to make history at the finish line, raising her arms in celebration as she crossed it with 1:05:15 on the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Loleo won the fight for silver in 1:06:05 and Niyonkuru claimed bronze in a national record of 1:06:08, five seconds ahead of Jerono. Hurley was fifth in a PB of 1:06:23 and she was followed by her teammates Kelati Frezghi in sixth and McClain in seventh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy coach believed in me and told me that I could do it, that I could win the gold medal,\u201d said Ngetich. \u201cSo, I am very happy and very grateful to now hold the world half marathon record, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has been a highly successful year for Ngetich, who won her world cross-country title by 42 seconds in Tallahassee before clocking a world-leading 28:58 for 10km in Lille, the third-fastest performance in history. She then ran 8:08.95 for 3000m in Monaco \u2013 also the third-fastest performance of all time \u2013 and she further proved her impressive versatility in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter one kilometre, I was like, let me try to push the pace, because I saw an opportunity to get the world record,\u201d she added. \u201cWhen I reached 15 kilometres, I was so happy, because I got the feeling of \u201clet me do this\u201d, and there were only six kilometres left. Crossing the finish line with a world record by just one second was unbelievable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am now going to discuss with my coach what is ahead of me. But I know I am coming back to track races in 2027, because there is a World Championships. It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track. It is the only one I am missing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ngetich led Kenya to the team title, combining with Loleo and Jerono for a team time of 3:17:33. USA earned team silver and Ethiopia team bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almgren and Kenya\u2019s Nicholas Kipkorir were closely matched throughout but Almgren timed his finishing surge to perfection. Moving away from Kipkorir down the final stretch past Parken, the 31-year-old earned his first global gold \u2013 adding the title to his world 10,000m bronze from Tokyo last year and the European 10,000m title he won last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almgren improved his own European record by 35 seconds to move to ninth on the world all-time list. He won by five seconds ahead of Kipkorir, while Uganda\u2019s multiple Olympic and world champion Joshua Cheptegei earned bronze in a PB of 58:26. Ethiopia\u2019s Tadese Worku finished fourth in a PB of 58:35, matching his position at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a bright morning in the Danish capital, Almgren watched as USA\u2019s North American record-holder Conner Mantz made an early move and he ran on the US athlete’s shoulder, alongside Japan\u2019s Tomoya Ogikubo, as the leaders covered the first three kilometres in around 8:27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipkorir moved ahead as the clock read 10:45 and he was joined at the front by his teammates Gideon Rono and Daniel Ebenyo, that trio leading through 5km in 13:57, Almgren sitting back in the pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipkorir, Ebenyo and their teammate Alex Nzioka Matata were still in control as they hit the 10km mark in 27:53, the lead group strung out but still including Almgren, Worku, Cheptegei, Mantz and Italy\u2019s Yemaneberhan Crippa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quartet of Kipkorir, Almgren, Worku and Cheptegei broke away over the next few kilometres, reaching 15km in 41:47. They then dropped Worku and hit the 20km mark in 55:20, the battle for gold really ramping up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almgren was happy to let Kipkorir retain the lead but he tracked his every move. They left Cheptegei behind as they headed back past the Trianglen, towards the final 600-metre stretch past Parken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipkorir and Almgren ran shoulder to shoulder and then Kipkorir moved a stride ahead. But Almgren was waiting for his moment to strike and he did so with the finish line in sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipkorir had no response and could only watch as Almgren roared over the finish line, beating him by five seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheptegei held on for third place, holding off Worku. Rono was fifth in 58:57, helping Kenya to the team title in a combined time of 2:56:30 ahead of Ethiopia (2:59:47) and the United States (3:01:34). Djibouti’s Hani Idriss Hersi was sixth in a national record of 59:09, Crippa was seventh in 59:18 and Matata completed Kenya’s scoring team in eighth in 59:22 \u2013 one place ahead of Ebenyo, the silver medallist in this event in Riga three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis gold medal means so much to me,\u201d said Almgren. \u201cI felt extremely strong in the last few kilometres. I did not only have one or two gears left, I had three or four \u2013 I felt like my opponents could try whatever they wanted but I was not going to let this gold medal go.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Road Running Championships formed part of Almgren\u2019s journey towards making his marathon debut in New York in November, as he continues to move up through the distances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was not that hard for me to do the transition from being a track runner to becoming a road runner,\u201d he said. \u201cIt still feels kind of surreal, that I have gone from 400m to half marathons. Ten years ago, we joked that maybe one day I would run a 5km race. Now I am world champion in the half marathon and I am going to have my marathon debut in New York in about a month. This gold medal is a very good sign for me, that I am doing something right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheptegei was also pleased with his bronze medal \u2013 a first road medal to go with his two Olympic and three world titles on the track and his 2019 world cross-country title \u2013 despite experiencing an issue with his foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDuring the race, I struggled a bit with my left foot, which I hurt 10 days ago, but I had good treatment and I only felt a little bit of pain during the race,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis race was part of my preparations towards the marathon in a few weeks\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Andreas Almgren (SWE) 58:06 1 Agnes Ngetich (KEN) 1:05:15 1 Kenya 2:56:30 1 Kenya 3:17:33 Kenya\u2019s Agnes Ngetich stormed to a women-only world half marathon record of 1:05:15 to win her second global<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-15950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-athletics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tLeading men’s individual results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2 Nicholas Kipkorir (KEN) 58:11
3 Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 58:26
4 Tadese Worku (ETH) 58:35
5 Gideon Rono (KEN) 58:57
6 Hani Idriss Hersi (DJI) 59:09
7 Yemaneberhan Crippa (ITA) 59:18
8 Alex Nzioka Matata (KEN) 59:22
9 Daniel Ebenyo (KEN) 59:42
10 Othmane El Goumri (MAR) 59:53<\/p>\n\n\n\nLeading women’s individual results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2 Veronica Loleo (KEN) 1:06:05
3 Florence Niyonkuru (RWA) 1:06:08
4 Daisilah Jerono (KEN) 1:06:13
5 Emma Grace Hurley (USA) 1:06:23
6 Weini Kelati Frezghi (USA) 1:06:35
7 Jessica McClain (USA) 1:06:53
8 Ftaw Zeray (ETH) 1:07:07
9 Fatima Ezzahra Birdaha (MAR) 1:07:33
10 Esther Chebet (UGA) 1:07:38<\/p>\n\n\n\nMen’s Team medallists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2 Ethiopia 2:59:47
3 United States 3:01:34<\/p>\n\n\n\nWomen’s Team medallists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2 United States 3:19:51
3 Ethiopia 3:22:40<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"