Kenya wins four medals on first day of World Road Running Championships

By  Bernard Rotich

Reporter

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

• Caroline Gitonga led Kenya’s charge with a silver medal in the women’s 5km race.
• Miriam Cherop claimed bronze in the women’s Road Mile to open Kenya’s account.

Kenya won four medals on the first day of the 2026 World Athletics Road Running Championships, the country’s athletes collecting with two individual medals and two team bronze titles to cap an impressive opening day in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Debutante Caroline Gitonga led Kenya’s charge with a silver medal in the women’s 5km race, the athlete hanging tough behind the Ethiopians in a frantic final 400m before sprinting to second place, while Miriam Cherop claimed bronze in the women’s Road Mile to open Kenya’s account.

The two individual podium finishes were enough to secure Team Kenya double team honours bronze in both the women’s 5km team standings, and the women’s Mile team classification after the combined times from the 30-year-old Gitonga and Caroline Nyaga (13th), combined with Mathew
Kipsang finishing eighth and Charles Kiboino coming in 13th position in the men’s category.

The team title in the 5km race went to Ethiopia, who took the gold medal, while Australian athletes settled for a silver medal.

Cherop’s performance and that of Naomi Korir, who finished fifth in the Road Mile, sits well with Kenya’s performance in the men’s Road Mile where Brian Komen finished 14th and Daniel Munguti who came 25th respectively, putting the country on the podium in both categories. 

Overall, Kenya settled for a bronze medal, with USA and Australia winning gold and silver medals respectively.

Former World Athletics Under-20 Championships 1,500m silver medalist, champion Miriam Cherop, opened the medal account for Team Kenya, bagging bronze in the women’s Road Mile in a tactical race, clocking a season best time of four minutes, 25.71 seconds to finish behind France’s Agathe Guillemot who ran a world lead time of 4:22.74, with Ethiopia’s Hailu Freweyni timing a seasons best of 4:24.35.

Her compatriot Naomi Korir finished a credible fifth after crossing the line in a personal best of 4:29.15. 

Cherop said she was excited to have finished the race on the podium.

“It was my dream to win a medal here. Since it was so windy, I decided to hang on the leading pack and I was confident it would work for me. I’m excited to have finished third,” she said.

The highlight of the day came in the women’s 5km, where Caroline Gitonga produced a strong finishing kick to bag silver medal.

Running her first senior race in Kenya colours, Gitonga hung onto the leading Ethiopian pack in a tight, fast race around the city centre before kicking hard in the final 400m to cross the line second in 14:48 behind Ethiopia’s Amebaw Likina who crossed the line in seasons best of 14:41. Australia’s Rose Davies finished third in 14:50.

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