Agnes Ng'etich/ FILEWorld half marathon record holder Agnes Ng'etich says she will return to the track in 2027, in the hunt for a World Athletics Championships gold medal in Beijing, ChinaLast weekend,.
Last weekend, Ng'etich reaffirmed her status as the queen of road running to set a women-only world half marathon record at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.
She timed 1:05:15, a second better than Peres Jepchirchir's record from the 2020 World Road Running Championships.
Ng'etich led home Veronica Loleo (1:06:05) in a Kenyan one-two, while Rwanda's Florence Niyonkuru claimed bronze in 1:06:08.
She owns the world 10km record too, courtesy of a sensational 28:46 run in Valencia in 2024.
The 25-year-old said she will now turn her focus on building towards the 2027 World Championships in Beijing.
“I am coming back to track races in 2027 because there is a World Championships,” Ng'etich said. “It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track. It is the only one I am missing.”
Ng'etich launched her 2026 campaign with a World Cross Country Championships title in Tallahassee, Florida, on January 10.
She won the senior women's 10km in 31:28, comfortably ahead of Uganda's Joy Cheptoyek (32:10) and Ethiopia's Senayet Getachew (32:13).
Ng'etich made her World Championships debut in Budapest in 2023, finishing sixth in the 10,000m in 31:34.83.
Ethiopia swept the podium through Gudaf Tsegay (31:27.18), Letesenbet Gidey (31:28.16) and Ejgayehu Taye (31:28.31).
Last year in Tokyo, Ng'etich embraced the demanding 5,000m and 10,000m double.
She placed 15th in the 5,000m in 15:13.78, with Beatrice Chebet claiming gold in 14:54.36 ahead of Faith Kipyegon (14:55.07) and Italy's Nadia Battocletti (14:55.42).
Over 25-laps, she was fourth in 30:42.66 behind Chebet (30:37.61), Battocletti (30:38.23) and Tsegay (30:39.65).
She won the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country Tour title on February 14, clocking 32:28 to beat Mercy Chepkemoi (33:42) and Catherine Amanang'ole (33:51).
At the New York Half Marathon on March 15, she faded to 13th in 1:10:25 as Hellen Obiri won in 1:06:33.
Ng'etich responded with back-to-back 10km road victories in Lille (28:58) on April 4 and New York (30:07) on June 6.
She then returned to the track at the Monaco Diamond League on July 10, producing a commanding front-running display to win the 3,000m in 8:08.95 ahead of Ethiopia's Aleshign Baweke (8:23.81) and Senayet Getachew (8:24.02), while Faith Kipyegon finished fourth in 8:24.21.
