Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich breaks women-only half marathon world record
Agnes Ngetich of team Kenya winning the women's Half Marathon during the World Athletics Road Running Championships on September 20, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark. © Gaelle Mobuchon/World Athletics via Getty Images 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.
The 25-year-old eclipsed the 1:05:16 mark set by compatriot Peres Jepchirchir in Gdynia, Poland, in 2020.
Race 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’s Florence Niyonkuru claimed bronze with a national record of 1:06:08.
The women-only record applies to races contested without male athletes or pacemakers. Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey holds the overall women’s 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’s half marathon time recorded at the time.
The 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.
“I am very happy and very grateful to now hold the world half marathon record, too,” Ngetich said, according to World Athletics.
Ngetich said she would consult her coach about her next steps but planned to return to track racing for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing. “It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track,” she said, describing it as “the only one I am missing.”
Unstoppable 🤯Agnes Ngetich storms to her second global title of 2026, dominating the women’s half marathon in a women-only world record of 1:05:15* 💪🥇 Agnes Ngetich 🇰🇪 1:05:15* WR🥈 Veronica Loleo 🇰🇪 1:06:05🥉 Florence Niyonkuru 🇷🇼 1:06:08 NR🔗 https://t.co/clRNip5jFP… pic.twitter.com/QEp0xDV7U3
At the 2026 championships, Kenya won the women’s team title, ahead of the US and Ethiopia. The East African country also claimed the men’s team gold, while Nicholas Kipkorir took individual silver in the half marathon.
READ MORE: The truth about World Cup visas nobody wants to hear Kenya remains Africa’s 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.
The 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.
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