Swede outkicks Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir in Copenhagen to add world gold to his European 10,000m crown and Tokyo bronze.

Andreas Almgren timed his finish to perfection to win the world half-marathon title in a European record of 58:06 at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on Sunday (Sept 20).

The 31-year-old Swede lowered his own record of 58:41, set in Valencia last October, by 35 seconds. He moved clear of Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir with around 100m to go to win by five seconds and climbs to ninth on the world all-time list and fourth on the 2026 list.

It shows he is in great form ahead of his marathon debut in New York City in early November.

Kenya's Gideon Kipkertich Rono led through 5km in 13:57. Kipkorir then took over at the front and he was first through 10km in 27:53, 15km in 41:47 and 20km in 55:20. The fourth 5km took him just 13:33, but Almgren was not to be shaken and produced the decisive surge late on.

Uganda's Olympic and world champion Joshua Cheptegei took bronze in a PB of 58:26, 20 seconds behind the winner.

Ethiopia's Tadese Worku was fourth in another PB of 58:35, matching his placing at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January. Rono was fifth in 58:57, and Djibouti's Hani Idriss Hersi took sixth in a national record of 59:09.

In all, 10 men broke 60 minutes as home runner Jacob Sommer Simonsen set a Danish record of 60:46 in 16th.

"This gold medal means so much to be," said Almgren. "I have had a few problems in my career. A lot of fourth places at the Europeans. Then finally I got a bronze medal at the World Championships last year. And then my first gold medal in Birmingham earlier this year and now to become the world champion in half marathon."

Joseph Wigfield was the leading Brit, finishing 36th in 61:49. Charlie Wheeler was 47th in a season's best of 62:18, while Alfie Manthorpe took 55th in 62:40. Wheeler and Manthorpe both ran quicker in Valencia last October, clocking 61:28 and 61:26 respectively. Jack Rowe did not finish.

Unusually, Almgren began as an 800m runner and won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Under-20 Championships in Eugene in 1:45.65, a time that still stands as the Swedish under-20 record. He was then dogged by injuries and, as he told AW in a recent interview, a turning point came in 2019 when he watched compatriot Kalle Berglund reach the 1500m final at the World Championships in Doha while he was rehabilitating from a stress fracture in his sacrum.

His move up in distance has brought a remarkable run of results. He set a European 5000m record of 12:44.27 in Stockholm last June, then won world 10,000m bronze in Tokyo.

In Valencia, he broke Julien Wanders' European half-marathon record of 59:13, which had stood since 2019, and lowered his European 10km record to 26:45 there in January. Last month he won the European 10,000m title in Birmingham in a championship record of 27:23.44.

HALF-MARATHON: 1 A Almgren (SWE) 58:06 ER; 2 N Kipkorir (KEN) 58:11; 3 J Cheptegei (UGA) 58:26 PB; 4 T Worku (ETH) 58:35 PB; 5 GK Rono (KEN) 58:57; 6 HI Hersi (DJI) 59:09 NR; 7 Y Crippa (ITA) 59:18; 8 AN Matata (KEN) 59:22; 9 DS Ebenyo (KEN) 59:42 SB; 10 O El Goumri (MAR) 59:53 PB