Ngetich Breaks Women-Only Record as Almgren Sets European Mark in Copenhagen

Kenya's Agnes Ngetich won the women's half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on 20 September 2026 in 1:05:15, breaking the women-only world record by one second. The prior mark belonged to Peres Jepchirchir from the 2020 World Half Marathon title. Ngetich pushed to the front from the outset and led to the finish, 50 seconds ahead of Veronica Loleo, with Florence Niyonkuru of Rwanda third. Ngetich also holds the women-only 10km world record. Her personal best of 1:03:04—the Kenyan record and second-fastest women's half marathon ever—is 2 minutes 11 seconds faster than the new mark; the overall mixed-race record remains Letesenbet Gidey's 1:02:52 from 2021. Sweden's Andreas Almgren won the men's race in a European record of 58:06, improving his own European record by 35 seconds and rising to ninth on the world all-time list. He timed his finishing surge down the final stretch past Parken to move away from Nicholas Kipkorir, winning by five seconds. Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei took bronze in a personal best of 58:26; Tadese Worku was fourth in 58:35. Contested: none found. Only center-rated coverage was logged.