Agnes and Andreas light up Copenhagen at the climax of the World Road Running Championships

Acknowledged as ‘the queen’ by her rivals, Agnes Ngetich was the ruling monarch of Copenhagen this morning when she secured the gold medal in world record time at the 2026 World Road Running Championships.

And there was Scandinavian joy as neighbouring Sweden’s Andreas Almgren upset race favourite, Nicholas Kipkorir, and raced to victory and a European half marathon record in the men’s race, which brought down the curtain on a successful six-race championship.

The championship fully  embraced Danish ‘Hygge’ culture – everyone has a good time – with the race routes taking in some of the capital city’s outstanding features, including the Tivoli Gardens, the Marble Church and the Queen Louise Bridge, rumoured to be in line for a name change to Queen Agnes Bridge after the weekend’s racing!

45 000 participants took part in the mass-participation half marathon which immediately followed the championship event. Cool conditions favoured the athletes, although wind gusts, which collapsed a row of bicycles near the start, added to the finish times of the elite.

Ngetich was in a class of her own, breaking away from the start to win by the best part of a minute ahead of compatriot Veronica Loleo, but with a $50 000 incentive at stake for a world record, there was no lack of excitement at the finish.

Ngetich raced down the home straight past the towering Parken Stadium, but it looked as if she might just miss the 1:05:16 mark, set by fellow Kenyan, Peres Jepchirchir at the last World Championships in Riga in 2023. But a final surge took her over the line just one second inside Jepchirchir’s time, winning in 1:05:15.

“I thought I might miss it,” acknowledged Ngetich. “But the thought of the $50 000 gave me extra energy and I gave a last push.  I’m so happy to have won the title and gained the record.”

Ngetich runs with a loping gait, evocative of that of the brilliant South African Matthews Motswarateu, whose lolling style earned him the nickname ‘Loop en Val’ (Walk and Fall).

Like Motswaratweu, who set a world 10km record of 27:59,3 in New York in 1980, the lack of a classic running gait proves no impediment to Ngetich, who now holds three road world records, including the 10km marks for both mixed (28:46) and women’s only (29:27) races.

“I just felt it was a great day for running and a chance of the record, so didn’t want to wait around after the start,” Ngetich explained her race tactics. “I felt good most of the way although started to tire towards the end before picking up the pace in the final 100m.

“It’s not so easy to be a front-runner – you have to be strong in body and mind to keep up the pace on your own. And today with the gusts of wind I had to be extra strong.”

Ngetich was 11 seconds ahead of a group of ten runners at 5km, a group which included her compatriots Veronica Loleo and Desilah Jerono, Ethiopians Tsigie Gebreselama and Ftaw Zeray, Americans Grace Hurley, Weini Kelati and Jessica McLain and Rwandan Florence Niyonkuru.

The lead had grown to 26 seconds as Ngetich led through 10km in 30:39 and 53 seconds through 15km (46:17), with just six pursuers left in contention for podium honours after Gebreselama and McLain had fallen off the pace.

With 4km to go, the race for line honours was over as Ngetich raced clear to a record-breaking victory, but four were left fighting for two medals.  Loleo, Niyonkuru, Jerono and Hurley matched strides in close combat, with the American first to concede 2km from home.

Last month Jerono, a senior private in the Kenyan Airforce, ran a 10km PB in stormy weather in Cape Town and expressed her determination to challenge for the podium in Copenhagen. Just a kilometre from the finish her dream was in sight, but she ran short on fuel when poised for take-off, leaving Loleo and Niyonkuru to fight for silver and bronze.

The Rwandan was the surprise package of the race, taking bronze in 1:06:08, three seconds back of Loleo – a huge 1:14 improvement on her previous best, set in Berlin in March this year.

A gold medal in the team competition proved compensation for Jerono, with the USA and Ethiopia taking the team silver and bronze respectively.

Unlike the women’s race, the result of the men’s contest was in doubt till the last and yielded the fifth ‘last gasp’ finish out of six championship races, with Almgren and race favourite, Nicholas Kipkorir, dishing up a finish for the ages.

Demonstrating the new-found confidence which currently typifies American distance running, Connor Mantz went to the front from the start and was still in the vanguard 3km into the race, reached in a brisk 8:27. Almgren and Japanese athlete Tomoya Ogikubo were at his shoulder.

But soon it was business as usual with a phalanx of red-vested Kenyan athletes leading the charge, with the red and green of Ethiopia and yellow of Uganda adding colour to the ‘lead bus’ of some twenty-five athletes.

Kipkorir, who had the fastest time going into the race, had been biding his time behind his teammates, but the Kenyan was soon out in front, dictating the destiny of the race and racing through 5km with teammates Daniel Ebenyo and Rono at his shoulder in 13:57.

The three Kenyans were still out in front through 10km in 27:53, with a larger group, which included Almgren, Mantz, Olympian and World Championship gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, Ethiopian Tadese Worku and Italian Yemaneberhan Crippa, strung out behind them.

Kipkorir’s pace increase led to casualties and only Almgren, Cheptegei and Worku were left with the Kenyan through 15km in 41:47. Worku was next to go as the remaining trio hit 20km in 55:20. Cheptegei, struggling with a foot injury, fell off the pace and as the athletes turned into the home straight, 600m from the finish, it was down to just two.

Kipkorir attempted a final surge but in the end the race-smart tactics of Almgren paid dividends. He had stayed behind the leading runners throughout and now took the lead 150 metres from home to win by 5 seconds in a European record time of 58:06. Cheptegei clinched bronze 15 seconds further back in 58:26.

With all four of their runners in the top ten, Kenya had no rival for the team gold, making it a half marathon golden double and crowing a top championship for the East African team.

But the hour belonged to Stockholm-based Almgren. “I felt so good today,” Almgren said. “My plan was to do as little work as possible, just to stay behind the leaders and only take the lead at the end. And with 200m to go and feeling strong, I hammered and got a gap.

“Nicholas was so strong – I feel a little bit bad (about his tactics), but in a championship race you have to do what is best for you to win. At the European 10km champs I needed a fast time, so did the work that day. Today was all about the win and I knew I had a fast kick. My tactics paid off.

“Early in my career I regarded it as an impossible task to beat the top African runners. And I was always getting injured trying for extra speed. Then I found the Norwegian style of higher mileage and lower intensity suited me and that has made all the difference. But athletes like Joshua (Cheptegei) and others from Africa have been truly inspiring.”

Many half-marathoners at the championships are on the cusp of moving up to the marathon, with Almgren preparing to race the New York Marathon in November. “I’ll be moving out to Flagstaff, Arizona, to complete my preparation at altitude and hope to join (South African) Adriaan Wildschutt in some training runs, although he is racing Chicago Marathon in October and is at a slightly different phase in his training,” explained Almgren.

Kipkorir is also looking at a Marathon Major for a debut, admitting he would love to do so on his home continent. “I would love to race Cape Town Marathon in May,” he said.

World Road Running Championships

Men’s Half Marathon results

1 Agnes Ngetich (KEN) 1:05:15
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

Team medallists

1 Kenya 3:17:33
2 United States 3:19:51
3 Ethiopia 3:22:40

World Road Running Championships

Men’s Half Marathon results

1 Andreas Almgren (SWE) 58:06
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

Team medallists

1 Kenya 2:56:30
2 Ethiopia 2:59:47
3 United States 3:01:34

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