Joshua Cheptegei finished third in the men’s half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on Sunday, running a personal-best 58:26 despite competing with an injured left foot.
The Ugandan said he hurt the foot 10 days before the race but was able to compete after receiving treatment.
“During the race, I struggled a bit with my left foot, which I hurt 10 days ago, but I had good treatment and I only felt a little bit of pain during the race,” Cheptegei said.
Cheptegei remained in the leading group through much of the race. At 15 kilometres, he was alongside Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir and Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku.
Worku was eventually dropped before Almgren and Kipkorir opened a gap on Cheptegei in the closing stages.
Almgren went on to win in 58:06, setting a European record. Kipkorir finished second in 58:11, while Cheptegei took bronze in 58:26. Worku was fourth in 58:35.
The result gave Cheptegei his first medal on the road and lowered his previous half-marathon personal best of 59:21. His earlier 2026 best was 59:26, recorded in Dubai in February.
Cheptegei already has two Olympic titles, three world championships titles on the track and the 2019 world cross-country title.
The half marathon also formed part of his preparations for a move to the marathon, with Cheptegei saying he expects to race the longer distance in the coming weeks.
“This race was part of my preparations towards the marathon in a few weeks’ time,” he said.
