Kenya\u2019s Agnes Ngetich has claimed her second global title of the year after winning the world cross-country crown in January<\/p>\n
Kenyan runner Agnes Ngetich has broken the women-only half marathon world record by one second, clocking 1:05:15 to win gold at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen.
\nThe 25-year-old eclipsed the 1:05:16 mark set by compatriot Peres Jepchirchir in Gdynia, Poland, in 2020.
\nRace data published by World Athletics on Sunday showed that Ngetich led from the start and opened a ten-second advantage by the five-kilometer mark. She finished 50 seconds ahead of fellow Kenyan Veronica Loleo, who took silver in 1:06:05, while Rwanda\u2019s Florence Niyonkuru claimed bronze with a national record of 1:06:08.
\nThe women-only record applies to races contested without male athletes or pacemakers. Ethiopia\u2019s Letesenbet Gidey holds the overall women\u2019s half marathon record of 1:02:52, achieved in a mixed race in 2021. Ngetich herself ran 1:03:04 in a mixed race in Valencia in 2024, the second-fastest women\u2019s half marathon time recorded at the time.
\nThe Copenhagen victory gave her a second global title this year following her triumph at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, in January. She also holds the mixed-race and women-only 10 km world records of 28:46 and 29:27 respectively.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI am very happy and very grateful to now hold the world half marathon record, too,\u201d Ngetich said, according to World Athletics.
\nNgetich said she would consult her coach about her next steps but planned to return to track racing for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing. \u201cIt is my dream to win a gold medal on the track,\u201d she said, describing it as \u201cthe only one I am missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unstoppable \ud83e\udd2fAgnes Ngetich storms to her second global title of 2026, dominating the women\u2019s half marathon in a women-only world record of 1:05:15* \ud83d\udcaa\ud83e\udd47 Agnes Ngetich \ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddea 1:05:15* WR\ud83e\udd48 Veronica Loleo \ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddea 1:06:05\ud83e\udd49 Florence Niyonkuru \ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfc 1:06:08 NR\ud83d\udd17 https:\/\/t.co\/clRNip5jFP\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/QEp0xDV7U3\u2014 World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 20, 2026 <\/p>\n
At the 2026 championships, Kenya won the women\u2019s team title, ahead of the US and Ethiopia. The East African country also claimed the men\u2019s team gold, while Nicholas Kipkorir took individual silver in the half marathon.<\/p>\n
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Kenya remains Africa\u2019s leading athletics power. It finished second behind the US at the 2025 World Athletics Championships with six gold medals and ten overall. That year, Faith Kipyegon lowered her 1,500-meter world record to 3:48.68, while Beatrice Chebet became the first woman to run 5,000 meters in under 14 minutes, clocking 13:58.06.
\nThe country will reinforce that status by hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships, the first edition to be held in Africa. Nairobi defeated bids from London, Rome, and Munich to secure the hosting rights, World Athletics announced last week. Kenya previously staged the 2017 World Under-18 and 2021 World Under-20 championships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenya\u2019s Agnes Ngetich has claimed her second global title of the year after winning the world cross-country crown in January Kenyan runner Agnes Ngetich has broken the women-only half marathon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\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