Copenhagen World Road Championships: Agnes Ng’etich headlines Kenya’s delegation, set for tough Ethiopian challenge
By Joel Masibo, September 17, 2026Agnes Ng’etich will be chasing another global crown when she competes in the women’s half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
The Kenyan has enjoyed a remarkable 2026 season, producing outstanding results over cross-country, track and road distances. She opened the year by securing her maiden global title at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, where she won by 42 seconds.
Ng’etich later underlined her exceptional road-running ability by recording 28:58 over 10km in Lille. The time was the fastest in the world this year and ranks as the third-quickest ever recorded.
Her versatility was again evident in Monaco in July when she won a highly competitive 3000m race in 8:08.95, another world-leading mark.
The half marathon is a distance where Ng’etich has already established an impressive record. On her debut in Valencia in 2024, she ran 1:03:04, before returning to the same race a year later and winning in 1:03:08.
Those performances stand as the second and third-fastest times in women’s half-marathon history. Only Letesenbet Gidey’s world record of 1:02:52 is quicker.
Ng’etich’s otherwise outstanding season suffered a rare setback in March at the New York City Half Marathon. She went out aggressively but could not maintain the early pace, eventually finishing 13th in 1:10:25.
Copenhagen provides her with another opportunity to demonstrate her strength over 21.1km.
Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama is among the athletes expected to provide the biggest challenge. The 2023 world cross-country silver medallist is ranked fourth globally in road running and enters the championships with the fastest half-marathon performance among the Copenhagen field this year.
Gebreselama won the Lisbon Half Marathon in March in 1:04:48. Her personal best of 1:04:21, recorded at the same event in 2025, places her among the fastest athletes ever over the distance. She was fourth at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga and will be targeting a first global podium.
Another Ethiopian, Ftaw Zeray, also enters the race with strong credentials. She set a personal best of 1:05:12 while winning in Paris in March before taking second in Istanbul a month later. Zeray was sixth in the half marathon at the 2023 World Road Running Championships.
Kenya has plenty of firepower beyond Ngetich. Lilian Kasait Rengeruk boasts a personal best of 1:03:32, achieved when she finished third behind Ngetich in Valencia in 2024. That mark makes her the fourth-fastest woman in history over the distance.
Rengeruk has also posted 29:32 for 10km and finished fifth in the women’s 10,000m at the Paris Olympics.
Daisilah Jerono and Veronica Loleo further strengthen Kenya’s team. Both athletes produced personal bests in Berlin in March, with Jerono clocking 1:05:21 for second and Loleo running 1:05:35 for third.
American Weini Kelati Frezghi will also be seeking a strong showing after lowering the US half-marathon record to 1:06:04 in Barcelona in February.
Slovenia’s Klara Lukan has enjoyed a breakthrough year on the roads. She ran a national record of 1:06:43 in Malaga before becoming the first European woman to dip below 30 minutes for 10km on the roads, recording a European record of 29:51 in Laredo.
Uganda’s Chebet defeated Lukan in Malaga after running a personal-best 1:06:33.
Uruguay’s Julia Paternain brings major championship experience after winning bronze in the marathon at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo. She also improved her national marathon record to 2:25:47 in April 2026.
Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal is another experienced contender. A multiple European medallist, Grøvdal won the European half-marathon title in 2024 and has previously demonstrated her ability to excel on challenging road courses, including victory at the New York City Half Marathon that year.
With her extraordinary performances across several disciplines in 2026, Ngetich arrives in Copenhagen as one of the central figures in the women’s half marathon.
The Kenyan challenge is further strengthened by Rengeruk, Jerono and Loleo, while Gebreselama’s season-leading time adds another major threat to the race.
The women’s half marathon is therefore set to feature a deep field, with several athletes possessing the credentials to challenge for the global title.