The men's half marathon that closes the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on Sunday is the deepest race of the weekend, and the hardest to call. Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir and Daniel Ebenyo both medalled at the last edition in Riga in 2023 and return as podium contenders. They face a field that includes Sweden's world 10,000m bronze medallist Andreas Almgren and Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei, returning to global competition for the first time since winning the Olympic 10,000m title in Paris two years ago.
Kipkorir arrives as the fastest man in the field on 2026 form. His personal best of 58:08, run in Lisbon in March, places him inside the top ten on the world all-time list, and he lines up as the world's second-ranked road runner. He also knows the city: he won the Copenhagen Half Marathon in 58:23 a year ago. His championship record is mixed rather than thin, with 5km bronze in Riga three years ago and a fourth place over 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics, and he made his marathon debut in Boston in April.
Ebenyo has the most obvious motivation. He was second in Riga behind Sabastian Sawe and has been building steadily since, taking world cross-country bronze in Tallahassee in January. He turns 31 two days before the race. Cheptegei, who beat Ebenyo to the world 10,000m title in 2023, brings a half marathon best of 59:21 set in Gdynia in 2020 and ran 59:26 to win in Dubai in February, beating Kipkorir by two seconds on that occasion. Whether a career built on the track transfers to a championship half marathon at 30 is one of the weekend's genuine open questions.
Almgren's season has been unusual even by the standards of an athlete who moves between surfaces. He opened 2026 with a European record of 26:45 for 10km in Valencia in January, matched the mark in Castellon a month later, then switched to the track for Diamond League podiums in Shanghai, Oslo and Paris and the European 10,000m title. Sunday will be his first half marathon of the year. He already holds the European record over the distance, having run 58:41 for fourth in Valencia last year, two places ahead of Kipkorir. Conner Mantz leads the United States team on 59:15 from New York last year, in what will be only his second race of 2026 as he returns from injury.
The supporting cast is strong enough to reshape the podium. Gideon Rono and Alex Nzioka Matata complete a Kenyan team with four men under 59:12 this year; Ethiopia's Tadese Worku has a season's best of 58:59 from Prague and finished fourth at the World Cross Country Championships; Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa set a national record of 59:01 in February. France's Etienne Daguinos, Australia's Jack Rayner and Canada's Rory Linkletter all have reasons to expect a top ten. In a championship race with no pacemakers and a course designed for racing rather than time trialling, that depth is likely to matter more than the entry lists suggest.