Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich has won gold at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, clocking 65:15 to set a new women-only half-marathon world record.
The victory adds another global title to an already outstanding 2026 season for the 25-year-old Kenyan, who arrived in Denmark as the reigning world cross-country champion and one of the leading contenders for the half-marathon crown.
World Athletics Road Running Championships are underway in Copenhagen from September 19 to 20. The women’s half marathon was scheduled for September 20 on a 21.0975-kilometer course through the Danish capital.
Ngetich Breaks Women-Only World Record
Ngetich’s winning time of 1:05:15 lowered the previous women-only half-marathon world record of 1:05:16, set by Peres Jepchirchir at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.
The outright women’s half-marathon world record remains 1:02:52, set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in Valencia in 2021 in a mixed-sex race.
World Athletics listed Gidey’s mark as the women’s world record ahead of the Copenhagen championships.
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Ngetich’s 65:15 performance establishes the fastest time recorded in a race conducted exclusively for women, improving Jepchirchir’s mark by one second.
Kenyan Star Dominates Copenhagen Race
Ngetich entered the championships with strong credentials over the 21.1-kilometer distance.
Her personal best of 1:03:04, recorded when she won the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon, was the second-fastest performance in history.
She also ran 1:03:08 in Valencia in 2025, giving her two of the fastest times ever recorded by a woman.
Her 2026 campaign had already produced several major achievements. In January, she won her first senior global title at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, United States, winning the women’s 10km race by 42 seconds.
She subsequently continued her strong form on the roads and track. World Athletics records that she ran a world-leading 28:58 over 10km in Lille and later produced a world-leading 8:08.95 over 3,000m in Monaco.
Ngetich Adds Second Global Title in 2026
Ngetich was one of four Kenyan athletes entered in the women’s half marathon in Copenhagen, alongside Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, Daisilah Jerono and Veronica Loleo.
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Kenya selected 16 athletes for the championships, with the country also fielding competitors in the road mile, 5km and men’s half marathon.
Before the race, World Athletics highlighted Ngetich’s credentials, noting that her 1:03:04 Kenyan record placed her second on the all-time world list.
Her main challengers included Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama, who entered the championships with a personal best of 1:04:21 and had won the Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:04:48 earlier in 2026.
Ngetich’s Copenhagen victory also follows a difficult outing at the New York City Half Marathon in March, where she finished 13th in 1:10:25 after an ambitious start.
She responded with strong performances later in the season, including her 28:58 10km victory in Lille and her 3,000m triumph in Monaco.
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