Cheptegei wins bronze, sets PB at Copenhagen Half Marathon

Joshua Cheptegei marked his return to Uganda’s national team at a global championship with a bronze medal and a personal best in the men’s half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Cheptegei clocked 58:26 to finish third behind Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, who won gold in a European record of 58:06, and Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir, who took silver in 58:11.

The race was tightly contested for much of the way, with Cheptegei remaining among the leading pack before Almgren and Kipkorir pulled clear in the closing stages. Almgren produced a decisive finishing kick to claim the world title, while Cheptegei held on for bronze.

The result marked a significant improvement on Cheptegei’s previous half-marathon personal best of 59:21, which he set before Copenhagen. His 58:26 performance cut 55 seconds off that mark.

It was also Cheptegei’s first appearance for Uganda at a global championship since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where he won the 10,000m title.

Cheptegei had earlier expressed his desire to return to the international stage for Uganda and said the bronze medal was particularly significant as he continues to build towards his marathon career.

“I am so excited that I ran a personal best and also brought a medal for Uganda,” Cheptegei said.

Uganda Athletics Federation president Dominic Otuchet hailed the performance as part of the country’s growing presence in road running, with Ugandan athletes competing across all three championship distances in Copenhagen.

“The Copenhagen championships are part of our continued development in road running, and we are proud to see Uganda competing across all three championship distances,” Otuchet said.

The bronze adds another global medal to Cheptegei’s decorated career, which includes Olympic and World Championship titles over 10,000m, as well as world records in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Cheptegei had previously finished fourth in the men’s half marathon at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.

His Copenhagen bronze gives Uganda another podium finish on the global road-running stage and underlines Cheptegei’s continued transition into the longer distances.

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