COPENHAGEN — Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich has added another major achievement to the country’s distance-running history, winning the women’s half marathon at the 2026 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen while setting a women-only world record.
Ngetich completed the race in 1:05:15 on 20 September.
The performance improved by one second the previous women-only world record of 1:05:16, set by fellow Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia.
Ngetich dominated the Copenhagen race and finished 50 seconds ahead of Kenyan teammate Veronica Loleo.
The victory gave the 25-year-old another global title following her world cross-country success earlier in 2026.
Her latest performance also adds to an exceptional collection of road-running records. World Athletics reports that Ngetich holds world records over 10 kilometres in both mixed and women-only races in addition to the new women-only half marathon mark.
The result reinforces Kenya’s extraordinary depth in international distance running.
Kenyan athletes have shaped global road, track and cross-country competition for decades, making athletics one of the country’s most internationally recognised sporting strengths.
Ngetich’s achievement comes at an especially significant moment for Kenyan athletics.
Only days before her Copenhagen victory, World Athletics selected Nairobi to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships — the first edition of the championships to be held in Africa.
Together, the developments underline both sides of Kenya’s athletics story: continued elite performance by its runners and an expanding role for the country as a host of major international competitions.