Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich set a new women-only half-marathon world record at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on September 20. She finished in 1:05:15, taking one second off the previous record of 1:05:16 set by fellow Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir in 2020.
Ngetich led from the start and reached 5km in 15:12, with a 10-second advantage over the chasing group. She extended that lead to 26 seconds by 10km before reaching 20km in 1:01:56.
She finished 50 seconds ahead of teammate Veronica Loleo, who took silver in 1:06:05. Rwanda’s Florence Niyonkuru finished third in 1:06:08, setting a national record.
The victory gave Ngetich her second global title of 2026. She won the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January before adding the world half-marathon title in Copenhagen.
Ngetich now holds three world records. Alongside the new women-only half-marathon mark, she holds the women-only 10km record of 29:27 and the mixed-race 10km record of 28:46.
The new half-marathon record applies specifically to women-only races. The overall women’s world record remains 1:02:52, set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in Valencia in 2021 in a mixed-gender race. Ngetich’s Copenhagen performance is subject to the usual ratification process.
