---
title: "Yared Nuguse leads road mile at World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 2026; strong Americans set fastest road times this year"
sdDatePublished: "2026-09-16T14:35:00Z"
source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/world-athletics-road-running-championships-copenhagen-2026-stars-schedule-watch-live"
topics:
  - name: "sport"
    identifier: "medtop:15000000"
locations:
  - "Tokyo"
  - "Valencia"
  - "Tallahassee"
  - "Hovedstaden"
  - "Lisbon"
  - "Berģi"
  - "Kenya"
  - "Uganda"
  - "Ethiopia"
  - "France"
  - "United States"
  - "Norway"
---


Yared Nuguse leads road mile at World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 2026; strong Americans set fastest road times this year

World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 2026: Stars in action, schedule and how to watch live

World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 2026: Stars in action, schedule and how to watch live

The ultimate event in road running heads to Denmark on 19-20 September, with global crowns up for grabs in the road mile, 5k and half marathon.

Nearly 500 athletes are set to descend on Copenhagen, Denmark, this weekend (19-20 September) for the World Athletics Road Running Championships 2026 , with glory up for grabs in three events: The road mile, 5k and half marathon.

Team USA's Yared Nuguse leads the road mile field with a career-best 3:51.90, while global champions Jimmy Gressier , Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Agnes Ngetich are all entered to compete.

Nuguse and fellow American Vincent Ciattei have the two fastest times on the road this year, as well, going 3:54.06 and 3:54.62, respectively. Another American - Hobbs Kessler - won the most recent Road Running mile title, at Riga 2023 in a then-world record time of 3:56.13.

Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir leads the men's half marathon, his personal-best 58:08 coming earlier this year in Lisbon. Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda will also feature, the all-time distance legend a gold medallist in the 5,000m at Tokyo 2020 and 10,000 at Paris 2024 - who is also a three-time world champion at that distance.

It's Norway's Ingebrigtsen who is set for the 5k, where the Frenchman Gressier is also set to compete. Gressier is reigning world champion in the 10,000m, and has the world-lead time of 12:51 in the 5k road in 2026.

For more on the women's races for Copenhagen 26, as well as a full schedule and how to watch live, see below.

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Agnes Ngetich headlines women's half marathon

It was earlier this year that Ngetich, another Kenyan, claimed her first-ever individual cross country world title at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.

Her 1:03:04 half marathon at Valencia in 2024 is the second-fastest of all time, while Ethiopia's Tsigie Gebreselama has the fastest time this year at 1:04:48 among the 121 entrants.

Team USA's Addison Wiley has the best road mile of the 2026 season, clocking a 4:25.42, while it's Miriam Cherop's 4:22.54 that is the fastest among the entrants.

Wiley won bronze at this year's World Indoor Championships in the 800m.

In the women's 5k, two Kenyans could be out in front: Caroline Makandi Gitonga has clocked a 14:26 this year, while Caroline Nyaga's 14:19 is the best among the field.

TOKYO, JAPAN: Agnes Jebet Ngetich of Team Kenya and Nadia Battocletti of Team Italy compete during the Women's 10000 Metres Final on day one of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 at National Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Michael Steele

World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26: Schedule

All times listed are local Copenhagen (CEST, GMT +2).

Saturday, 19 September 10:10 Women's road mile 10:30 Men's road mile 14:10 Women's 5k 14:40 Men's 5k

Sunday, 20 September 09:10 Women's half marathon 09:45 Men's half marathon

The Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26 is an official World Athletics event, set to air on their partner broadcasters. For an official list of where and how to watch, see the official World Athletics page .

Picture by 2026 Getty Images

Picture by 2025 Getty Images