Agnes Ngetich Breaks Women-Only Half Marathon World Record in Copenhagen
Agnes Ngetich ran 1:05:15 in Copenhagen to win the world half marathon title and break the women-only world record by one second.
- Kenya's Agnes Ngetich won the women's half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26 in 1:05:15.
- The performance is a women-only world record, subject to the usual ratification procedure.
- Ngetich won by 50 seconds from compatriot Veronica Loleo, while Rwanda's Florence Niyonkuru took bronze in 1:06:08.
- The previous women-only record was Peres Jepchirchir's 1:05:16 from the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia.
Ngetich went straight to the front in Copenhagen
Agnes Ngetich did not wait for the race to settle. The 25-year-old Kenyan moved to the front almost immediately and turned the women's half marathon into a solo effort long before the finish.
World Athletics reported that she covered the opening kilometre in roughly three minutes before moving through Copenhagen with a growing advantage. By 5km she had already created a 10-second gap, reaching the split in 15:12. At 10km the lead had stretched to 26 seconds, with Ngetich passing in 30:39.
The race continued to move decisively in her favour. She reached 15km in 46:17 with a 53-second advantage over the chase group, then passed 20km in 1:01:56. There was no late collapse or tactical regrouping: Ngetich carried the lead all the way to the finish and stopped the clock at 1:05:15.
The race was effectively decided before the final kilometres
Behind Ngetich, the medals remained far less certain. An eight-athlete chase group was still together around 10km, with runners from Kenya, Rwanda, the United States and Ethiopia all involved in the battle for the remaining podium places.
Veronica Loleo eventually emerged as the strongest of that group and crossed the line second in 1:06:05. Florence Niyonkuru finished three seconds later in 1:06:08, earning bronze for Rwanda and setting a national record. Kenya's Daisilah Jerono was fourth in 1:06:13, while Emma Grace Hurley led the United States in fifth with a personal best of 1:06:23.
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First meaningful gap
Ngetich was already 10 seconds clear and running alone at the front. -
The advantage reaches 26 seconds
The chase group remained together, but the race for gold was beginning to separate from the race for the other medals. -
A 53-second lead
Ngetich had turned the championship into a record attempt as the chasers fought for silver and bronze. -
History within reach
She reached the final 1.1km with a 51-second advantage and the women-only world record still possible.
A one-second record with a much bigger statement behind it
The final margin over the previous record was tiny: one second. The previous women-only world record of 1:05:16 had been set by Peres Jepchirchir when she won the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia.
But the manner of Ngetich's performance made the result more significant than the one-second improvement suggests. She led aggressively, spent most of the race without the tactical shelter of a pack and still finished 50 seconds ahead of an international championship field.
The mark is subject to World Athletics' usual ratification procedure, but it appears in the official championship results as a women-only world record.
Kenya controlled both the individual and team races
Ngetich's victory also anchored a dominant Kenyan team performance. Loleo finished second and Jerono fourth, giving Kenya a combined team time of 3:17:33 and the world team title.
The United States took team silver in 3:19:51. Hurley finished fifth, Weini Kelati Frezghi sixth in 1:06:35 and Jessica McClain seventh in a personal best of 1:06:53. Ethiopia completed the team podium in 3:22:40.
The individual top four underlined the depth of the East African field: Ngetich and Loleo took the first two places for Kenya, Niyonkuru delivered Rwanda's bronze and Jerono added another top-four finish for Kenya.
The record adds to an exceptional 2026 season
Copenhagen was Ngetich's second global title of the year. She had already won the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January, where she took her first senior global championship title.
Her 2026 season has also shown how effectively she can move between surfaces and distances. World Athletics noted a 28:58 road 10km in Lille earlier in the year and a world-leading 8:08.95 over 3000m in Monaco in July. The Copenhagen half marathon extended that range again, this time over 21.1km.
Ngetich now holds three world-record marks recognised by World Athletics: 28:46 for 10km in a mixed race, 29:27 for a women-only 10km race, and the new 1:05:15 women-only half-marathon mark, pending ratification of the Copenhagen performance.
What comes next for Ngetich?
After the finish, Ngetich indicated that the track remains an important part of her long-term ambitions. With the 2027 World Athletics Championships ahead, she said she expects to return to track racing and identified a global track title as a major remaining target.
"It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track."
For now, Copenhagen adds another major title to a season already defined by range: cross country, road racing and track performances at the highest level.
This report is based on World Athletics' official Copenhagen 26 race report, women's half-marathon results and team standings.
World Athletics: Ngetich breaks women-only world half marathon record
World Athletics: women's half-marathon results
World Athletics: women's team standings
Images of Agnes Ngetich: Filip Bossuyt, licensed CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Both are archival images from the 2023 World Athletics Championships and are clearly labelled as such.
