Preview: World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 2026

Posted by: Watch Athletics

Friday, 18 September 2026

Global champions Agnes Ngetich, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Jimmy Gressier will headline the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26 on 19-20 September.

A total of 496 athletes—270 men and 226 women—from 85 member federations have been entered for the global championships, which will feature the road mile, 5km and half marathon.

Women’s half marathon

World 10km record-holder Agnes Ngetich will be looking to add another global title after winning the senior women’s race by 42 seconds at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January. That triumph came three years after she claimed bronze at the 2023 edition in Bathurst.

Ngetich set the Kenyan half-marathon record of 1:03:04 in Valencia in October 2024 and returned to the Spanish city one year later to win in 1:03:08. Those performances remain the second- and third-fastest in history, behind only Letesenbet Gidey’s world record of 1:02:52.

The Kenyan distance star has also produced extraordinary performances over 10km, winning the Valencia Ibercaja race in 28:46 and clocking 28:45 in Lille—the third-fastest time in history. Her only defeat this season came in New York, where she finished 13th in 1:10:25 on a cold day after an ambitious start.

On the track, Ngetich won the 3000m at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in a world-leading 8:08.95 in July and placed fourth in the 10,000m at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. She also made history at the 2025 Adizero Road to Records in Herzogenaurach, becoming the first woman to break 30 minutes for 10km in a women-only race with 29:27.

Ngetich will line up against compatriot Lilian Rengeruk and Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama. Rengeruk became the fourth-fastest woman in history when she set a PB of 1:03:32 to finish third behind Ngetich in Valencia in 2024.

Gebreselama finished fourth at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga and won individual and team silver medals at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst. She also earned bronze at the 2018 World U20 Championships in Tampere. Ranked fourth in the world road running rankings, she has the fastest time among the entrants this season after clocking 1:04:48 at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March. Her lifetime best of 1:04:21 was set in Lisbon in 2025.

The Ethiopian team will also include Ftaw Zeray, who won the Paris Half Marathon in a PB of 1:05:12 in March before finishing second in Istanbul in 1:06:57.

Kenya’s Daisilah Jerono and Veronica Loleo finished second and third behind Likina Amebaw at the Berlin Half Marathon in April, improving their respective PBs to 1:05:21 and 1:05:35.

The field also features Uruguay’s Julia Paternain, who produced one of the biggest surprises in distance-running history by winning marathon bronze at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo in only her second race over the distance. It was Uruguay’s first-ever medal at the World Athletics Championships. She had previously set a national record of 2:25:47 at the London Marathon.

Weini Kelati leads a strong US team that also includes Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, Ednah Kurgat, Cari Ellwood and Annie Rodenfels. Kelati set the US half-marathon record of 1:06:04 in Barcelona in February 2026.

Slovenia’s Klara Lukan ran a lifetime best of 1:06:43 behind Ester Chebet at the Malaga Half Marathon. Lukan also became the first European woman to break 30 minutes for 10km on the road when she set a continental record of 29:51 in Laredo. Chebet, who improved her PB to 1:06:33 in Malaga, will also compete in Copenhagen.

Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal won the European half-marathon title in Rome in 1:08:09 in 2024, having also triumphed at the New York City Half Marathon earlier that year. The Norwegian has won three European cross-country titles, claiming consecutive victories in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Men’s half marathon

Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir will face Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, multiple Olympic and world champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, and world half-marathon silver medallist Daniel Ebenyo of Kenya.

Kipkorir moved to fourth on the world half-marathon all-time list with 58:08 in Lisbon in March. The Kenyan won 5km bronze at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga and will return to the Danish capital after winning last year’s Copenhagen Half Marathon in 58:23.

On the track, Kipkorir won the 5000m at both the Diamond League Final in Zurich and the Golden Gala in Rome, where he improved Eliud Kipchoge’s meeting record with a PB of 12:46.33. He also finished fourth in the 5000m at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.

Ebenyo earned world silver medals in the 10,000m in Budapest and the half marathon in Riga in 2023, finishing behind Cheptegei and world marathon record-holder Sebastian Sawe, respectively. He also took 10,000m silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and claimed bronze at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January. Ebenyo turns 31 two days before the championships and will be aiming for a belated birthday present in Copenhagen.

The Kenyan team also includes Gideon Rono and Alex Nzioka Matata, who set PBs of 58:38 in Ras Al Khaimah and 59:11 in Yangzhou, respectively, earlier this year.

Cheptegei won Olympic gold in the 5000m in Tokyo in 2021 and the 10,000m in Paris in 2024, setting an Olympic record of 26:43.14 in the latter. He also claimed three consecutive world 10,000m titles in Doha in 2019, Eugene in 2022 and Budapest in 2023, where he finished ahead of Ebenyo.

The Ugandan won the world cross-country title in Aarhus in 2019 and finished fourth at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, setting a lifetime best of 59:21. This year, the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder came close to that mark with 59:26 at the Dubai Half Marathon, beating Kipkorir by two seconds, and ran a season’s best of 2:06:39 at the London Marathon.

Tadese Worku will lead the Ethiopian team after finishing fourth at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, one place behind Ebenyo. Worku recorded a season’s best of 58:09 in Prague in April, while teammate Bereket Nega broke the one-hour barrier with 59:43 in Berlin that same month.

Almgren holds European records in the 5000m (12:44.27), half marathon (58:41) and road 10km (26:45), as well as the Swedish 3000m record of 7:26.48. He won 10,000m bronze at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. This season, he secured top-three finishes at Diamond League meetings in Keqiao, Oslo and Paris before winning the European 10,000m title in 27:23.44.

Conner Mantz leads the US team. The 29-year-old set a half-marathon PB of 59:15 in New York in 2025 and a North American marathon record of 2:04:43 in Chicago last October.

Yemaneberhan Crippa set the Italian half-marathon record of 59:01 in Naples in February. He also won the Paris Marathon in 2:05:18 and finished fourth in the 10,000m at the European Championships in Birmingham. The Italian, who won European 10,000m gold in Munich in 2022 and the continental half-marathon title in Rome in 2024, will use Copenhagen as part of his preparation for the New York City Marathon.

France’s Etienne Daguinos won 5000m bronze at the European Championships in Birmingham in August and placed sixth in the 5km at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga.

Other notable entrants include Australia’s Jack Rayner, who set a national record of 59:53 in Barcelona in 2026, and Canada’s Rory Linkletter, the national record-holder with 59:49 from Houston in January.

Men’s mile

Olympic medallist Yared Nuguse and world champion Isaac Nader will headline the men’s road mile.

Nuguse won Olympic 1500m bronze in Paris in 2024 in 3:27.80 and world indoor 3000m silver in Glasgow earlier that year. The US athlete set a world indoor mile record of 3:46.63 at the 2025 Millrose Games and owns the fourth-fastest outdoor mile time in history at 3:43.97.

He won the US road mile title in Des Moines in 3:54.06, the fastest road mile ever recorded by a US athlete on American soil. Nuguse later finished fifth at both the Diamond League Final in Brussels in 3:30.66 and the Ultimate Championships in Budapest in 3:30.76.

Nader won the world 1500m title in Tokyo in 2025 and world indoor silver in Torun in 2026. The Portuguese athlete has demonstrated his versatility by setting national indoor records in the 800m (1:45.05), 1500m (3:32.44) and 3000m (7:38.05).

Vincent Ciattei finished second behind Nuguse at the US Road Mile Championships in Des Moines. He also improved his 1500m PB to 3:30.90 in Rabat and his mile best to 3:48.34 at the Bowerman Mile in Eugene.

The leading European contenders include Germany’s Robert Farken, Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran and Great Britain’s Jake Heyward.

Farken finished sixth in the 1500m at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. He later placed fourth in the Emsley Carr Mile in London, improving his German record to 3:46.82. His 1500m split of 3:30.09 in that race was also a national record.

Heyward finished third ahead of Farken in London in 3:46.73. He won European 1500m silver in Munich in 2022 and placed fourth in both the mile at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 1500m at the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham.

Coscoran earned European bronze in Birmingham in August. He broke Eamonn Coghlan’s long-standing Irish indoor mile record with 3:49.26 at the 2025 Millrose Games and holds the national outdoor 1500m record of 3:30.42, set in Chorzow in 2023. This year, he set an Irish indoor 1500m record of 3:33.42 in Liévin.

Australia’s Oliver Hoare won Commonwealth 1500m gold in Birmingham in 2022 and finished second behind Cameron Myers at the 2026 Australian Championships. The Australian team also includes Jack Anstey, who contested the road mile at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga and clocked 3:55.56 in Düsseldorf on 6 September.

New Zealand’s Samuel Tanner set a track mile PB of 3:49.51 at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic. This season, he won 1500m races at Continental Tour meetings in Lignano Sabbiadoro in 3:34.75 and Heusden-Zolder in 3:33.57.

Croatia’s Marino Bloudek won European 800m silver in Birmingham and set national records of 1:44.01 for 800m in Madrid and 2:15.40 for 1000m in Ostrava this year.

South Africa’s Tshepo Tshite won World Indoor Tour Gold 3000m races in Madrid and Ostrava before claiming the national 1500m title in April. He also won the 3000m in Los Angeles in 7:37.57, beating Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker.

The Kenyan team will be led by Kyumbe Munguti, a two-time mixed-relay gold medallist at the World Cross Country Championships.

Women’s mile

Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu will renew her rivalry with Addison Wiley of the United States, Agathe Guillemot of France and Sarah Billings of Australia. All four athletes arrive in Copenhagen after competing at both the Diamond League Final in Brussels and the Ultimate Championships in Budapest.

Hailu won the 5000m at the Diamond League Final in 14:35.20 before finishing fourth in both the 1500m (3:58.44) and 5000m (14:32.76) at the Ultimate Championships. The Ethiopian has set PBs of 3:55.92 for 1500m in Paris, 8:24.22 for 3000m in Oslo and 14:18.94 for 5000m in Rome.

Guillemot finished fourth in the 1500m at the European Championships in Birmingham and set a French record of 3:56.24 at the Paris Diamond League meeting. The 27-year-old also placed sixth at the Diamond League Final in 3:57.12 and eighth at the Ultimate Championships in 3:59.40, while improving her 800m PB to 1:58.65 in Bellinzona. Earlier in the year, she helped France earn mixed-relay silver at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee and finished fourth in the 1500m at the World Indoor Championships in Torun.

Billings set an Oceanian 800m record of 1:57.01 in Paris and clocked 3:56.73 for 1500m in Chorzow. The Australian won Commonwealth 800m bronze in Glasgow and finished fifth at the Diamond League Final and seventh at the Ultimate Championships.

Australia’s team also includes Linden Hall, a member of the squad that won mixed-relay gold at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee. Hall set a 3000m PB of 8:27.03 at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston in January.

Wiley won world indoor 800m bronze in Torun in 1:58.36 and claimed her first Diamond League victory over 800m in Doha in 1:57.98. The US athlete also finished second in the 1500m in Bellinzona in 3:58.96 and fourth in the 800m at the Ultimate Championships in 1:57.54. She won the mile in Des Moines in 4:25.42, narrowly beating Gracie Hyde, who clocked 4:25.64 and will join her on the US team in Copenhagen.

Kenya’s team features Mirriam Cherop, who set a mile PB of 4:22.54 in Honolulu in 2018 and won mixed-relay gold at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, and national 1500m champion Naomi Korir, who finished fifth in the Commonwealth mile in Glasgow.

Other contenders include Ireland’s Sarah Healy, the 2025 European indoor 3000m champion; Canada’s Lucia Stafford, fourth in the 1500m at the 2026 Commonwealth Games; Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele, sixth in the Olympic 1500m final in Paris; and Jamaica’s Adelle Tracey, who clocked 4:20.4 at the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York last weekend.

Men’s 5km

Olympic and European 5000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway will take on world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier of France over 5km. It will be the first time they have raced each other on the roads.

Gressier set a European 5km record of 12:51 in Lille, moving to third on the world all-time list behind Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi (12:49) and Yomif Kejelcha (12:50). The 29-year-old finished fifth at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga and won the European half-marathon title in Leuven in 2025.

On the track, Gressier won 10,000m gold and 5000m bronze at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo before claiming the Diamond League title in Zurich. This year, he finished third in the 10,000m and fourth in the 5000m at the European Championships in Birmingham.

Ingebrigtsen won his fourth consecutive European 5000m title in Birmingham in 13:15.29 and followed it with victory over the distance at the Ultimate Championships in Budapest in a season’s best of 12:59.24. The Norwegian also recorded three top-five finishes on the Diamond League circuit in Chorzow, Zurich and Brussels.

He will return to Copenhagen, where he contested the only half marathon of his career in 2024. His sole previous road 5km came in Stavanger, where he clocked 13:28. The Norwegian team also includes Narve Gilje Nordås, the 2023 world 1500m bronze medallist.

Ethiopia’s Addisu Yihune finished second in the Lille 5km in 12:54, moving to fifth on the world all-time list. He also won Diamond League 5000m races in Xiamen in 12:57.32 and Oslo in 12:47.62.

South Africa’s Maxime Chaumeton placed fifth in Lille in a national record of 13:06. A regular at the BOclassic in Bolzano, he finished third in 2022 and 2023 and fourth in 2024 and 2025. He also holds the South African 10km record of 26:55.

Burundi’s Egide Ntakarutimana finished second at the Diamond League Final in Brussels in a national record of 12:46.73. He also placed fourth over 3000m in Zurich in 7:28.13 and eighth in the 5000m at the Ultimate Championships in 13:01.

Ky Robinson won the 10,000m and finished second in the 5000m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July. The Australian, who placed ninth at the Ultimate Championships, will renew his rivalry with Commonwealth 5000m champion Matthew Kipsang.

Dominic Lobalu earned 10,000m silver at the European Championships in Birmingham, two years after winning the title in Rome. Eritrea’s Dawit Seare, meanwhile, finished fourth in the 5km at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in 13:21.

Women’s 5km

Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw will seek another global title in the women’s road 5km, just six days after winning the 5000m at the Ultimate Championships in Budapest in 14:30.36.

Amebaw set a world-leading 14:18.41 at the Rome Diamond League meeting. On the roads, she has recorded PBs of 29:29 for 10km in Valencia in January and 14:23 for 5km in Barcelona last December.

She will face compatriot Aleshign Baweke, who finished second in Rome in 14:18.54 and fifth at the Ultimate Championships in 14:32.95.

The Kenyan challenge will be led by Caroline Nyaga, who won in Tokyo last year in 14:19, moving to fourth on the world all-time 5km list behind Beatrice Chebet, Agnes Ngetich and Marta Alemayo. Nyaga has the fastest road 5km PB in the field and finished sixth in the Commonwealth 5000m in Glasgow in July.

Her compatriot Caroline Gitonga has set PBs of 29:34 for 10km, 14:26 for 5km and 1:06:16 for the half marathon this year.

The leading European entrant is Diane van Es, who set a continental 5km record of 14:33 in Monaco in February. The Dutch athlete won European 10,000m silver in Rome in 2024.

Jana Van Lent improved the Belgian 10km record to 30:10 in Valencia in January and lowered the national 5km record to 14:36 in Utrecht. In August, she won 10,000m bronze at the European Championships in Birmingham.

Burundi’s Francine Niyomukunzi improved her 5000m PB to 14:41.46 at the Rome Diamond League meeting in June.

Australia’s Rose Davies won Commonwealth 5000m gold in Glasgow and finished sixth at the Ultimate Championships in a lifetime best of 14:35.64. Teammate Georgia Griffith set a 5000m PB of 14:32.82 in London in 2025 and holds the Oceanian 3000m record of 8:24.20, set in Oslo in 2024.

Great Britain’s Hannah Nuttall clocked a 3000m PB of 8:26.48 at the London Diamond League meeting in July and finished fifth at the Commonwealth Games. Her compatriot Megan Keith earned European bronze medals in the 10,000m in Rome in 2024 and the 5000m in Birmingham. On the roads, Keith set a British 10km record of 30:07 in Castellón and ran 1:07:13 at the New York City Half Marathon in March.

Uganda’s 19-year-old Charity Cherop won 5000m gold and 3000m bronze at the World U20 Championships in Eugene. She set a national U20 record of 14:39.38 for 5000m at the Keqiao Diamond League meeting in May.

The US team includes Courtney Frerichs, the 2017 world and Tokyo 2021 Olympic silver medallist in the 3000m steeplechase, who owns a 5000m PB of 14:48.75, and three-time NCAA steeplechase champion Allie Ostrander.