At the 2025 World Road Running Championships held in Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-year-old Kenyan long-distance runner Agnes Ngetich delivered a historic performance that etched her name into the record books. Ngetich claimed the women’s gold medal in the half marathon with a blistering time of one hour, five minutes and 15 seconds, shaving one full second off the previous women-only half marathon world record set by her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir, who set the former benchmark when she won World Half Marathon gold back in 2020.
It is important to note that Ngetich’s record only applies to women-only competitions. Ethiopia’s star runner Letesenbet Gidey still holds the overall women’s half marathon world record (which includes mixed-gender races) with a time of 1:02:52, a mark that remains one of the most impressive in all of distance running.
This historic breakthrough in Copenhagen is far from the first time Ngetich has redefined what is possible for women’s distance running. In 2024, she made history at a mixed road race in Valencia, Spain, when she became the first woman ever to complete a 10km race in under 29 minutes, crossing the line in 28:46 to break the existing world record. Just one year later, in April 2025, she did it again: she set a new 10km world record for women-only races, clocking 29:27 to become the first woman to break the 30-minute barrier in an all-women’s 10km event.
In a post-race interview with reporters, Ngetich expressed her overwhelming joy and gratitude for the milestone victory, crediting her coaching team for believing in her potential when others doubted it. “My coach believed in me and told me that I could do it, that I could win the gold medal,” Ngetich said. “So, I am very happy and very grateful to now hold the world half marathon record, too.”
Looking ahead to the next chapter of her already decorated career, Ngetich has already set a new, ambitious goal that she is determined to achieve. The Kenyan star says her next focus is preparing for the 2027 World Athletics Championships, where she plans to make her mark on the track rather than the road. “I am now going to discuss with my coach what is ahead of me. But I know I am coming back to track races in 2027, because there is a World Athletics Championships,” she explained. “It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track. It is the only one I am missing.”
In the men’s half marathon competition at the same Copenhagen event, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren also turned in a record-breaking performance to take the men’s gold medal. Almgren crossed the finish line in 58:06, breaking his own previously held European record by an impressive 35 seconds to claim the top spot on the podium.