<p><br />For Joshua Cheptegei and Peres Jepchirchir, 2020 has been a year to remember, but the one thing missing has been a major championship medal. At the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on Saturday (17), both will have a chance fill that void.</p>
<p>At the pre-race press conference on Friday (16), both spoke confidently about their chances of leaving Gdynia with gold. Cheptegei ran the world 10,000m record (pending ratification) in Valencia last week and after a week of training in the mountains in central Spain, the Ugandan said he is ready to roll once again.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I feel good, I feel recovered and ready for the race,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a fantastic event.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Cheptegei will be making his half marathon debut in Gdynia and if he can emerge victorious among the 122 competitors in the men&rsquo;s field, he will become just the second man in history after Khalid Skah to win world titles in cross country, track and on the roads.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/468ff35c-02ec-4b33-9cfa-279d1430de7c.jpg?cachebuster=dfcd6af7-15a6-486c-b1f6-c29a7d4a345b" alt="" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been my dream to make a debut at the half marathon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This title will be something very special for me. A debut and a win? That would be amazing.&rdquo;</p>
<p>He revealed his emphasis in training of late was on track events but the 24-year-old is confident he can carry his form up in distance.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been training well for the 5000m, the 10,000m, but now it&rsquo;s the half marathon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know it comes just a few days after the world record but I believe I&rsquo;m a person of high talent and I can say it will be a nice challenge for me. I&rsquo;m hungry for the title. I&rsquo;ve shown in cross country, I&rsquo;ve shown in the track, I&rsquo;ve shown when it comes to attacking records, so the only thing now is to win a special title on the roads.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Jepchirchir, on the other hand, is well versed at this distance, having won the world half marathon title in Cardiff in 2016 and she set a short-lived half marathon world record of 1:05:06 in 2017. After taking time out of the sport in 2017 and 2018 to give birth to her daughter, Natalia, she has been as fast as ever since her return, running 1:05:34 last month in Prague, a world record in a women-only race.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling good and I&rsquo;m ready for the race,&rdquo; she said on Friday.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/4a975a51-ed66-4a51-ae6c-c4f73d2662f2.jpg?cachebuster=84796d5a-f4a2-4b15-aadd-1dbc5eec7490" alt="Peres Jepchirchir" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />Although the forecast for Saturday is for cold weather alongside the Baltic Coast &ndash; and an expected temperature of 7-8C (44-46F) &ndash; the 27-year-old Kenyan didn&rsquo;t rule out some scorching times as 105 of the world&rsquo;s best distance runners take to the line for the women&rsquo;s race.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There is high expectation for the event because we have strong athletes,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The team is strong, and maybe the world record can go also.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Romanian great Constantina Dita, an ambassador for the event, said tomorrow&rsquo;s races will serve as a major opportunity for athletes in a year that lacked many competitive opportunities.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/40fba33a-b917-4abb-8fe7-52c6c8dfea38.jpg?cachebuster=67c6c656-9749-4feb-8a59-6440b1ce8302" alt="Constantina Dita" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<p><br />&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard for everybody but we need to think positive, stay safe and keep going,&rdquo; said Dita, who competed at the World Half eight times during her career, winning a total of seven medals, including individual and team gold at the 2005 edition in Edmonton. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad they can run in Gydnia.&rdquo;</p>
<p>In what&rsquo;s been a difficult year, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe paid tribute to the resilience of athletes who kept working towards this competitive opportunity.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I thank them,&rdquo; said Coe. &ldquo;These have been extraordinarily tough times. The fact they have performed as strongly as they have has been down in large part to their own mental resilience. To them I&rsquo;m really grateful and I want to extend my thanks to the Polish government and to the people of Poland, who are so passionate about our sport.&rdquo;<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/f4c54a16-5f52-4153-9417-9f9e647186ae.jpg?cachebuster=b72de44c-974d-4526-83ce-f420ce35980c" alt="Sebastian Coe" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<p><br />Coe also thanked all those who had worked long and hard behind the scenes to make this event possible. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud athletics has led the way in terms of making sure our competitors haven&rsquo;t lost too much time in this disrupted season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was really important that we created some structure for athletes to be able to aim at something and get some races under their belt. We have shown sport can punch through under the most extreme of circumstances. I&rsquo;m really looking forward to some great races.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Bartosz Bartoszewicz, Deputy Mayor of Gdynia, said the city was &ldquo;more than proud to have the opportunity to witness all these athletes&rdquo; and that while there were a lot of challenges on the build-up, the city was ready to host &ldquo;a great event.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics</strong></p>

For Joshua Cheptegei and Peres Jepchirchir, 2020 has been a year to remember, but the one thing missing has been a major championship medal. At the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on Saturday (17), both will have a chance fill that void.

Record-breakers Cheptegei and Jepchirchir focused on gaining gold in Gdynia

<p><br />For the first time in the history of the championships, the women&rsquo;s race at the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> will have two current world record-holders for the distance as Peres Jepchirchir and Ababel Yeshaneh line up against one another on Saturday (17).</p>
<p>From 2013 onwards there have been separate world records in women&rsquo;s roads events &ndash; one for women-only races, and one for mixed races. And this year both half marathon records have been broken with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Yeshaneh clocking 1:04:31 at the Ras Al-Khaimah Half Marathon in February and Kenya&rsquo;s Jepchirchir running 1:05:34 in a women-only race at the Prague 21.1K in September.</p>
<p>Jepchirchir&rsquo;s performance is the more recent of the two, so there is little doubt over the 27-year-old&rsquo;s form heading into Gdynia. She is also a past winner of the title, having won gold in Cardiff in 2016, and she went on to set a short-lived world record of 1:05:06 in Ras Al Khaimah in 2017.</p>
<p>She gave birth to daughter Natalia at the end of 2017 and so missed most of 2018, but she returned to form last year with victories at the Lisbon Half Marathon (1:06:54) and Saitama Marathon (2:23:50).<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/73bed46a-4774-4a5e-8730-5480b864547a.jpg?cachebuster=16ef51e1-c7fa-4419-96ea-6baf258649a1" alt="Ababel Yeshaneh" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />Yeshaneh, however, is a formidable opponent and she&rsquo;ll be lifted by the memories of their one previous clash, at the 2016 Delhi Half Marathon, where she finished three places and 36 seconds ahead of Jepchirchir.</p>
<p>Yeshaneh finished ninth in the 10,000m at the 2013 World Championships and 14th in the 5000m at the 2016 Olympic Games before devoting most of her time to road running. She has finished in the top two in 10 of her past 12 half marathons and has impressed over the full marathon distance, placing second in Chicago last year in a PB of 2:20:51.</p>
<p>Her final outing before heading to Poland was Ethiopia&rsquo;s 15km trial race, in which she finished fourth. Knowing that she only needed to finish in the top six, though, she could well have been doing just enough to secure her spot on the team, wanting to stay fresh for Gdynia.</p>
<p>Saturday&rsquo;s race isn&rsquo;t just about the two world record-holders, though. Netsanet Kebede Gudeta and Joyciline Jepkosgei, the gold and silver medallists from 2018 &ndash; and, incidentally, the previous world record-holders of the two women&rsquo;s half marathon marks &ndash; will also line up in Gdynia. It means that the four most recent world record-holders for the distance will all be in attendance in Gdynia.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/c8722e50-ea3f-42ef-b9ce-4a7b258d1bae.jpg?cachebuster=000e7d85-9e0a-42bd-902e-7c62a55aa35d" alt="Netsanet Gudeta" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />Gudeta won in Valencia two years ago in a women-only world record of 1:06:11, comfortably beating pre-race favourite Jepkosgei, who in 2017 had set two outright world records for the distance.</p>
<p>Since then, however, both women have had mixed fortunes. Gudeta hasn&rsquo;t won a half marathon since 2018, but she equalled the Ethiopian record of 1:05:45 in 2019. She also failed to finish the 10,000m at the World Championships in Doha, but Saturday&rsquo;s race could be an opportunity for redemption for the 29-year-old.</p>
<p>And while Jepkosgei &ndash; the fastest woman in history over 5km, 10km, 15km and 20km &ndash; hasn&rsquo;t quite yet returned to her record-breaking form from 2017, the 26-year-old Kenyan impressed at last year&rsquo;s New York City Marathon to win on her debut at the distance in 2:22:38, just a few seconds shy of the long-standing course record.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/ac0dc41c-a48c-4a6c-95e8-a2336a3e137c.jpg?cachebuster=0c8bb9d6-8bd3-447f-a422-5b45a4a7bee2" alt="Joyciline Jepkosgei" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />Jepchirchir and Jepkosgei are joined on the Kenyan team by Rosemary Wanjiru, Dorcas Kimeli and Brillian Kipkoech.</p>
<p>Since finishing fourth in the 10,000m at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, Wanjiru has emerged this year as a much stronger athlete. The 25-year-old clocked 29:50 over 10km in Valencia back in January, going to third on the world all-time list for the distance, and followed it with a 1:05:34 run in Ras Al Khaimah, the fastest half marathon debut in history.</p>
<p>She hasn&rsquo;t raced on the roads since then, but in July she clocked a 5000m PB of 15:03.49 and a 10,000m season&rsquo;s best of 30:38.18.</p>
<p>Kimeli, like Jepkosgei and Wanjiru, is one of five women to have bettered 30 minutes for 10km on the roads. She is less experienced than most of her team-mates, but has finished on the podium in all five of her half marathons to date and has a 1:07:10 PB, set in Barcelona earlier this year.</p>
<p>The Ethiopian team also has three sub-66-minute performers. Zeineba Yimer clocked her 1:05:46 PB to finish third in Ras Al Khaimah last year, just one second behind Gudeta. Later in the year, Yimer finished fifth at the Valencia Marathon in 2:19:28 on her debut at the distance. Her only race in 2020 was Ethiopia&rsquo;s 15km trial, where she finished third, in between Gudeta and Yeshaneh.</p>
<p>Yalemzerf Yehualaw won the Ethiopian trial event, underlining her ability in championship-style racing. She was sixth in Ras Al Khaimah earlier this year, finishing behind Yeshaneh and Wanjiru, but won three of her four outings over the distance in 2019, including at the African Games.</p>
<p>Medhin Beyene, Nigsti Haftu and Sisay Meseret Gola complete Ethiopia&rsquo;s entries.</p>
<p>Given the quality of their teams, Kenyan and Ethiopian women will likely fill most of the top 10 places on Saturday, but the exact finishing order &ndash; for the individual honours and the team title &ndash; is anybody&rsquo;s guess.</p>
<p>There are a few other contenders outside the two powerhouse teams, though.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/b327c7bd-03da-4121-805d-3cdbcb552251.jpg?cachebuster=8b8b9036-f6e5-4eff-81f0-a9af4e853dea" alt="Lonah Chemtai Salpeter" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />Israel&rsquo;s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter finished 12th at the last World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia and then went on to win European 10,000m gold in Berlin. She improved her half marathon PB to 1:06:09 in 2019 and earlier this year she won the Tokyo Marathon in a world-leading 2:17:45, covering the second half in 1:08:29.</p>
<p>Turkey&rsquo;s Yasemin Can, who preceded Salpeter as European 10,000m champion, showed good form in Ostrava last month, running 14:40.70 over 5000m. In a competitive field like this one, she could well improve on the 1:08:29 she ran in Istanbul last year, her only half marathon to date.</p>
<p>While it&rsquo;s highly likely that Kenya and Ethiopia will take the top two spots in the team competition, the third place appears to be wide open.</p>
<p>Following on from their team bronze at last year&rsquo;s World Cross, Uganda could make it on to the podium again this weekend. Juliet Chekwel won the Seville Marathon earlier this year in a Ugandan record of 2:23:13 on her debut at the distance, which suggests her national half marathon record of 1:09:45 could be due for revision this weekend.</p>
<p>Germany, led by 1:08:41 performer Melat Kejeta, has a strong team, as does Ukraine and Sweden.</p>
<p>Other notable entrants include Italy&rsquo;s 2013 world marathon silver medallist Valeria Straneo, who will be the oldest athlete in action at the championships, and Finland&rsquo;s 1996 Olympic finalist Annemari Kiekara, who returns to the World Half Marathon Championships 22 years after her last appearance in the event.</p>
<p><strong>Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics<br /><br /></strong></p>
<hr />
<h3>Resources</h3>
<p>&bull; <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/561c0209-20c8-49cd-a86b-157c9c446703.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Facts and figures</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/28859212-3665-4f05-9cd8-961b76b405e0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Entries by country</strong></span></a> | <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/005d6910-6317-473d-b40b-2fc0000c2ff0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>entries by event</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships-7138821/timetable/byday" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Timetable</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/downloadresultinfo?filename=98ec3198-59ee-4fac-bb33-262b42d5ce8b.pdf&amp;urlSlug=official-programme"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Official programme</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/Competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships/multimedia/video" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Video highlights of past editions</strong></span></a></p>

For the first time in the history of the championships, the women’s race at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 will have two current world record-holders for the distance as Peres Jepchirchir and Ababel Yeshaneh line up against one another on Saturday (17).

World record-holders Jepchirchir and Yeshaneh set to clash at World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

<p><br />When the gun sounds for the men&rsquo;s race at the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on Saturday (17), all eyes will be on an athlete who has never previously raced the 21.1km distance.</p>
<p>Despite his half marathon inexperience, Joshua Cheptegei will quite rightly command the spotlight given the year he has had. The Ugandan has set world records in all three of his races in 2020, starting with his 12:51 clocking for 5km on the roads in Monaco in February and followed six months later by his 12:35.36 5000m run, also in Monaco. More recently, he took a five-second chunk off the 10,000m world record in Valencia on 7 October with his stunning 26:11.00 performance.</p>
<p>His recent performances indicate world record potential at longer distances &ndash; indeed, he also holds the world best for 15km &ndash; but whether that will materialise in his first attempt at the half marathon is another matter entirely. More to the point, for the first time this year Cheptegei likely won&rsquo;t be focused on breaking records in Gdynia; instead, his main goal will simply be to reach the finish line first.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for his rivals, the formidable Cheptegei is just as adept at winning major titles as he is at breaking records.</p>
<p>Ever since he faded in the closing stages of the senior men&rsquo;s race at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships on home soil in Kampala, Cheptegei has managed to turn his fortunes around. He took world 10,000m silver in London later that year, followed it with double Commonwealth gold in 2018 and then bagged two global crowns in 2019, winning the world cross-country title on a challenging course in Aarhus and then following it with 10,000m gold at the World Championships in Doha.</p>
<p>If Cheptegei is victorious on Saturday, he will become just the second man in the modern era to win global titles on the track, road and cross-country, joining Khalid Skah. Incidentally, Skah &ndash; the winner in 1994 &ndash; is also the last man to win the World Half on his debut at the distance.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/d90180d0-9d96-434f-a973-4183d10d3450.jpg?cachebuster=fb6d621c-bb5e-4b74-93e2-a75cf82652a4" alt="Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />One of Cheptegei&rsquo;s strongest challengers could well be his youngest team-mate, Jacob Kiplimo.</p>
<p>The 19-year-old has also been in sensational form this year, clocking a world-leading Ugandan record of 7:26.64 for 3000m in Rome and setting a 5000m PB of 12:48.63 in Ostrava. His last clash with Cheptegei was at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships, where he shared the lead for much of the way before finishing second behind his compatriot.</p>
<p>Before that, however, he had comfortably beaten Cheptegei at the Ugandan Cross Country Championships and the Cross Internacional de Italica in Seville earlier that year. Kiplimo also has the slight advantage of having previously contested a half marathon; he ran 1:01:53 at altitude in Kampala at the end of last year, winning by more than a minute.</p>
<p>To date, Uganda has won just one medal at the World Half Marathon Championships &ndash; bronze in the men&rsquo;s team event in 2004 &ndash; while the country&rsquo;s best individual placing was Wilson Busienei&rsquo;s fourth-place finish in 2006.</p>
<p>Their medal haul looks set to increase this weekend, not only in the individual race but in the team contest too as their line-up includes 2009 world U20 cross-country bronze medallist Moses Kibet, 1:00:00 performer Stephen Kissa, and 20-year-old rising talent Victor Kiplangat.</p>
<p>Since 2006, all but one of the nine men&rsquo;s titles have been won by either Zersenay Tadese or Geoffrey Kamworor. Neither man will be in Gdynia, meaning for the first time since 2010 a new name will feature on the top step of the podium.</p>
<p>But despite the absence of Kamworor, who was involved in a car accident earlier this year, the Kenyan team is still strong and they will be keen to win their first senior men&rsquo;s global team title since 2016, having been beaten at the 2018 World Half and the most recent editions of the World Cross.</p>
<p>World leader Kibiwott Kandie heads to Gdynia off the back of four high-quality victories this year. He started his season by winning the Kenyan Defence Forces Cross Country Championships and the Kenyan Cross Country Championships. Just six days after winning his first national title, he went on to win the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February in a world-leading PB of 58:58.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/5b66623b-6ff9-4ac1-8074-d5c5f1925280.jpg?cachebuster=9ef83f24-da68-4117-8c12-0d0a4627e71b" alt="Kibiwott Kandie" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />Kandie didn&rsquo;t race again until September, but he showed no loss of form at the Prague 21.1K, winning with another world-leading PB of 58:38 &ndash; a mark that puts him fifth on the world all-time list and just 37 seconds shy of Kamworor&rsquo;s world record.</p>
<p>Benard Kimeli and Benard Ngeno, both of whom have identical PBs of 59:07, join Kandie in making their global championships debut. Ngeno, a half marathon specialist, has finished on the podium in his past nine races over the distance and has a season&rsquo;s best of 59:26.</p>
<p>Leonard Barsoton, the 2017 world cross-country silver medallist, adds further strength to the Kenyan team. A 59:09 performer at his best, Barsoton&rsquo;s fastest clocking this year is 1:00:02.</p>
<p>Morris Munene Gachaga, another experienced half marathon runner, completes the Kenyan team. He hasn&rsquo;t raced this year, but has a 59:22 PB from last year.</p>
<p>Ethiopia&rsquo;s Guye Adola has a reputation for producing unexpected performances. He was a relative unknown ahead of the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships, but he chopped more than two minutes from his PB in Copenhagen to take bronze in 59:21. Later that year, he beat Kamworor &ndash; the reigning world half marathon and cross country champion at that time &ndash; to win the Delhi Half Marathon in a PB of 59:06.<br /><br /></p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/e616410d-56e2-4809-a1cf-6175c94d8adb.jpg?cachebuster=e0c1f5f2-1b7b-40c7-8cc9-f6f197bc7fd4" alt="Guye Adola" width="600" height="600" /></p>
<p><br />After low-key seasons in 2015 and 2016, Adola re-emerged at the 2017 Berlin Marathon, where he pushed Eliud Kipchoge up until the final few kilometres, ultimately finishing just 14 seconds behind the Kenyan great in 2:03:46.</p>
<p>Adola hasn&rsquo;t raced internationally since last December&rsquo;s Valencia Marathon, where he ran 2:04:42, but he can never be discounted.</p>
<p>African 10,000m silver medallist and two-time Delhi Half Marathon winner Andamlak Belihu also features on the Ethiopian team. The 21-year-old has a PB of 59:10 and is a versatile runner, having finished fifth over 10,000m at last year&rsquo;s World Championships and eighth at the World Cross in Aarhus.</p>
<p>Like Belihu, Birhanu Legese is also a two-time winner of the Delhi Half Marathon. He has focused on the marathon in recent years, clocking a PB of 2:02:48 in Berlin last year and winning this year&rsquo;s Tokyo Marathon in a world-leading 2:04:15.</p>
<p>Leul Gebresilase, who has PBs of 59:18 and 2:04:02 for the half and full marathon distances, finished 10th at the last World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia and will be keen to improve on that this weekend.</p>
<p>Amedework Walelegn, the 2017 world U20 cross-country silver medallist, and Hailemaryam Kiros, winner of Ethiopia&rsquo;s hotly-contested 15km trial race for Gdynia, complete the Ethiopian line-up.</p>
<p>South Africa&rsquo;s Stephen Mokoka will be making his seventh appearance at the World Half &ndash; a tally bettered by just two other men. He has finished in the top 10 on three previous occasions and will be buoyed by his fifth-place finish in the marathon at last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Doha.</p>
<p>Other contenders include European record-holder Julien Wanders and his Swiss team-mate Tadesse Abraham, winner of the 2016 European half marathon title. Morocco&rsquo;s African Games silver medallist Mohamed Reda El Aaraby could also feature among the leaders.</p>
<p>Eritrea &ndash; winners of team medals at the past 10 editions, including gold in 2014 &ndash; hasn&rsquo;t entered a team for Gdynia. Japan and USA, who have sent teams to all 23 previous editions, also won&rsquo;t be represented this weekend.</p>
<p>And while Sweden isn&rsquo;t expected to contend for team honours in Gdynia, their squad includes the oldest and youngest participants in the entire men&rsquo;s field. 43-year-old Adhanom Abraha will be contesting his third World Half but his first for Sweden (his two previous appearances came when he ran for Eritrea), while 19-year-old Emil Millan de la Oliva will be making his global championships debut, having impressed on the track this year with times of 13:29.59 for 5000m and 23:23.21 for 10,000m, putting him fourth and second respectively on the European U20 all-time lists.</p>
<p><strong>Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics<br /><br /></strong></p>
<hr />
<h3>Resources</h3>
<p>&bull; <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/561c0209-20c8-49cd-a86b-157c9c446703.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Facts and figures</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/28859212-3665-4f05-9cd8-961b76b405e0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Entries by country</strong></span></a> | <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/005d6910-6317-473d-b40b-2fc0000c2ff0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>entries by event</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships-7138821/timetable/byday" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Timetable</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/downloadresultinfo?filename=98ec3198-59ee-4fac-bb33-262b42d5ce8b.pdf&amp;urlSlug=official-programme"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Official programme</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/Competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships/multimedia/video" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Video highlights of past editions</strong></span></a></p>

When the gun sounds for the men’s race at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on Saturday (17), all eyes will be on an athlete who has never previously raced the 21.1km distance.

Cheptegei aims to end dream year on a high at World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

<p><br />Romania&rsquo;s 2008 Olympic champion Constantina Dita has been named an ambassador for the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on 17 October.</p>
<p>Dita competed at eight editions of the World Half Marathon Championships and earned seven medals in the process, making her one of the most successful athletes in the history of the event. Her double victory in Edmonton in 2005, taking individual and team gold medals, remains one of the highlights of her career.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I was surprised (to win by a significant margin),&rdquo; she said of her 2005 triumph. &ldquo;I was running a normal pace but maybe the opposition found it very cold. For me, it was good weather. I love to run in the rain.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was such a happy feeling to win my first gold medal at a major championship. For me, it was amazing and it was close to what it would have felt like to win a gold medal at the track and field World Championships.</p>
<p>&ldquo;To win my gold medal was a great achievement,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;It gave me much encouragement to run better in other races.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Dita did exactly that, and three years later she won the marathon gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.</p>
<p>Along with her major championship medals, Dita was also successful at big city marathons. She won the 2004 Chicago Marathon and finished second in 2005. She also made it on to the podium at three editions of the London Marathon.</p>
<p>Today Dita divides her time between her native Romania and the USA, and is still involved in the sport as founder and president of the annual Bucharest International 10km.</p>
<p>She still runs and last year she completed the Berlin (3:07) and New York City (3:30) marathons. She hopes to one day complete the full set of six Marathon Majors by running the Boston Marathon.</p>
<p><strong>World Athletics</strong></p>

Romania’s 2008 Olympic champion Constantina Dita has been named an ambassador for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on 17 October.

Dita named ambassador for World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

<p><br />Poland is ready to welcome about 250 runners from more than 50 teams to compete at the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on Saturday 17 October.</p>
<p>The sole World Athletics Series event of 2020 will also be one of the most highly anticipated competitions of the year as several global champions and world record-holders feature among the entries.</p>
<p>World 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei, fellow Ugandan star Jacob Kiplimo, and world record-holders Peres Jepchirchir and Ababel Yeshaneh will all compete for global honours in Gdynia this weekend.</p>
<h3><br />Course</h3>
<p>The event was rescheduled from its original date in March and the course has also been adapted to ensure any potential risks are kept to a minimum.</p>
<p>Now held on a five-kilometre loop around the city, the race will start almost from sea level at the renowned Kosciuszki Square. The course takes in some of the main roads in the city centre with a slight uphill section along Swietojanska Street, then the final stretch heads back down towards the sea with the finish line located on the main city beach in Gdynia.</p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QxU4i61pRWI" width="500" height="280" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><br />Scoring</h3>
<p>Teams may enter a maximum of seven athletes, but no more than five shall be allowed to start in each race.</p>
<p>Team results are decided by the aggregate of times recorded by the first three finishers of each team. The team with the fastest aggregate time will be judged the winner.</p>
<p>If a team fails to finish with a complete scoring team, the runners finishing shall be counted as individuals in the race result and be eligible for the individual prize money.</p>
<p>In the event of a tie, it shall be resolved in favour of the team whose last scoring member finishes nearer to first place.</p>
<h3><br />Prize money</h3>
<p>Prizes will be awarded to the top six individuals and the top six teams in both races. The prize money is as follows:</p>
<p><strong>Individuals</strong><br /> 1st US$30,000<br /> 2nd $15,000<br /> 3rd $10,000<br /> 4th $7000<br /> 5th $5000<br /> 6th $3000</p>
<p><strong>Teams</strong><br /> 1st US$15,000<br /> 2nd $12,000<br /> 3rd $9000<br /> 4th $7500<br /> 5th $6000<br /> 6th $3000</p>
<p>A US$50,000 bonus will be awarded to any athlete who breaks a world record.</p>
<p>Further information and coverage of the championships can be found on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our dedicated competition mini-site</a></strong></span>.</p>
<h3>Resources</h3>
<p>&bull; <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/561c0209-20c8-49cd-a86b-157c9c446703.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Facts and figures</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/28859212-3665-4f05-9cd8-961b76b405e0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Entries by country</strong></span></a> | <a href="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitioninfo/005d6910-6317-473d-b40b-2fc0000c2ff0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>entries by event</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships-7138821/timetable/byday" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Timetable</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/downloadresultinfo?filename=98ec3198-59ee-4fac-bb33-262b42d5ce8b.pdf&amp;urlSlug=official-programme"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Official programme</strong></span></a><br />&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/Competitions/world-athletics-half-marathon-championships/multimedia/video" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Video highlights of past editions</strong></span></a></p>
<p><strong>World Athletics</strong></p>

Poland is ready to welcome about 250 runners from more than 50 teams to compete at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on Saturday 17 October.

Course, scoring and prize money details – World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

<p><br />When the elite men and women hit the streets for the rescheduled <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on 17 October, it will be a symbolic moment for the sport of athletics in these challenging times.</p>
<p>It will, of course, be the first World Athletics Series event since the outbreak of the global pandemic earlier this year. But more than that, it shines as a beacon of hope to show what is possible when like-minded, determined and united parties come together to achieve a goal.</p>
<p>Originally slated to take place on 29 March, the event was postponed earlier this year due to the rising levels of coronavirus, particularly in Europe at that time. However, there was always a deep-seated desire that the show must go on and the alternative date of 17 October was quickly announced for the rescheduled World Athletics Half Marathon Championships.</p>
<p>Although cancellation of the event was a possibility, it was never the preferred option for two reasons, according to World Athletics Director of Competition and Events Jakob Larsen.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Competing at international championships is very important for our elite athletes,&rdquo; explains Larsen. &ldquo;Not only to provide purpose for their training but also as a platform for their sources of income. Furthermore, cancelling without even trying to find another date would simply not be right when you have a city and a local organising committee who do not want to let their efforts and investment of time and resources go to waste.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Larsen fully acknowledges the crucial role played by the LOC in ensuring the rescheduled race will go ahead this weekend.</p>
<p>He describes them as World Athletics&rsquo; &ldquo;boots on the ground&rdquo; and insists their knowledge of local and national systems was invaluable.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We often play a role, but we would never be able to do what they do with the same results,&rdquo; admits Larsen.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is also the case in this particular situation, where we have had to design a Covid-19 protocol more or less from scratch. Our Health &amp; Science Department possess the medical expertise needed, but the implementation requires a lot of work at local and national level. As an experienced event organiser, the LOC was well connected and knew who to reach out to in lots of situations &ndash; this has been extremely valuable.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Despite the expertise and enthusiasm of the LOC, the challenges of putting on an international sporting event in a global pandemic have been complex and varied.</p>
<p>Developing a detailed and thorough health and safety protocol has been critical and balancing the cost structure of a rescheduled event has also required much thought.</p>
<p>There have been bumps in the road. In late-August organisers were forced to make the tough decision to cancel the mass participation race, which was set to accompany the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, and had attracted 27,000 entrants. The mass event is now being held as a virtual race.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Given the fact the World Half Marathon Championships is very much about mass participation as well, and one that is highly valued by the community as the entry numbers show, it definitely was a sad decision,&rdquo; says Larsen. &ldquo;But at the same time, given the situation and indeed national regulations, it wasn&rsquo;t really a choice.&rdquo;<br /><br /></p>
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<p><br />While health and safety protocols, cost structures and the mass participation race have all presented their issues, Larsen says the greatest challenge remains ensuring the teams are able to travel to and subsequently enter Poland.</p>
<p>&ldquo;International travel is compromised, so we still have a lot of work to do for all teams to make it to Gdynia,&rdquo; admits Larsen. &ldquo;But we are hopeful and, based on the entries from the federations, so are they.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Larsen says that the event on 17 October will be &ldquo;almost totally different&rdquo; to the plans which had been implemented for the original race back in March.</p>
<p>The course has changed from a one-lap 21.1km loop to four loops of approximately 5.5km. The health and safety plan is on an &ldquo;entirely different scale&rdquo; and, given the absence of a mass participation race and massively scaled down spectator numbers, the event presentation has had to be amended. Yet not only are the competition and operational elements to the race different, so too will be the approach to communications.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We have no mass race, but probably an extremely high-calibre elite race in a window with very few events going on &ndash; which is very unlike normal circumstances,&rdquo; he adds.</p>
<p>Larsen admits to having a few &ldquo;moments of doubt&rdquo; as to whether the rescheduled event would go ahead over a frantic past six months or so. However, thanks to the good will of the LOC, led by Michael Drelich, the Polish government and the city of Gdynia, the event has got the green light and will provide one of the highlights of a severely disrupted year of sporting action.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It is clear that the entire community &ndash; athletes, national federations, coaches, athlete representatives &ndash; has risen to the challenge,&rdquo; says Larsen. &ldquo;It is evident that this is something everybody wants to happen &ndash; and indeed are making it happen.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Its importance cannot be overstated. As the governing body of athletics, we have committed to providing our athletes an opportunity to compete, giving them a reason to remain focused, and fulfil their sponsorship commitments. For national federations we will provide an opportunity to showcase their best athletes not only for an international audience but also to present themselves at national level. And for organisers worldwide I hope we can present a sustainable path forward until we reach a &lsquo;new normal&rsquo;.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Everybody &ndash; World Athletics, the LOC and the athletics community &ndash; is working overtime in order to put on what I&rsquo;m sure will be an amazing event on 17 October.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Steve Landells for World Athletics</strong></p>

When the elite men and women hit the streets for the rescheduled World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on 17 October, it will be a symbolic moment for the sport of athletics in these challenging times.

How World Half organisers have adapted to ensure event can go ahead in 2020

<p><br />Annemari Kiekara has vivid memories of the marathon at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.</p>
<p>Her recollection, however, is not one of pounding the streets of the Australian city alongside the rest of the world&rsquo;s best road runners on the biggest sporting stage. Instead, she was sat at home, watching the race on TV.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I cried that night,&rdquo; recalls Kiekara (nee Sandell). &ldquo;I felt so sad and disappointed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Aged 23 at the time, the Finn had hoped that Sydney would be her second Olympics and an opportunity to improve on her finishing position from the Atlanta Games four years prior. On that occasion, while still a teenager, she finished 12th in the 10,000m after clocking a European U20 record of 31:40.42 in the heats &ndash; a record that still stands to this day.<br /><br /></p>
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Annemari Sandell (91) in action in the U20 race at the 1995 World Cross Country Championships</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Before then, Kiekara had already established herself as one of the most exciting up-and-coming distance runners in the world. She made her international debut aged 13 at the 1990 World U20 Championships in Plovdiv, where she narrowly missed out on making the 3000m final.</p>
<p>Two years later, and still the youngest in the field by two years, she placed fifth in a high-quality 3000m final at the 1992 World U20 Championships, beaten only by Chinese duo Zhang Linli and Zhang Lirong &ndash; who went on to take senior world silver and bronze respectively one year later &ndash; and Romania&rsquo;s Gabriela Szabo and Britain&rsquo;s Paula Radcliffe.</p>
<p>While still among the U20 ranks, Kiekara competed at the World Championships in 1993 (finishing 13th over 3000m) and 1995 (placing ninth in the 10,000m). She also bookended the 1995 season by winning the world U20 cross-country title and senior European cross-country gold.<br /><br /></p>
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Annemari Sandell wins the U20 race at the 1995 World Cross Country Championships</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;My fondest memories are from the World Cross Country Championships, becoming junior champion in 1995 and getting the senior bronze medal in 1999,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m also proud of my three medals from the European Cross Country Championships (gold in 1995, silver in 1998 and bronze in 1996).&rdquo;</p>
<p>In her final season as an U20 athlete, Kiekara reduced her PBs to 8:48.36 for 3000m and 14:56.22 for 5000m. But although she was something of a prodigy, Kiekara says she rarely felt the pressure of expectation from fans or the media.<br /><br /></p>
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Paula Radcliffe and Annemari Sandell lead the women's race at the Great North Cross Country in Durham</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;There were some expectations and pressure, but thankfully the media were very kind to me during that stage of my career,&rdquo; says Kiekara.</p>
<p>&ldquo;At the Atlanta Olympics, though, after setting a big PB in the 10,000m heats, several coaches said I had a great chance in the final. I ended up running the race in my mind so much that I felt mentally fatigued before the final.&rdquo;</p>
<h3>A new chapter</h3>
<p>By the time she turned 21 at the start of 1998, Kiekara had already competed at four senior global championships on the track and three senior continental cross-country championships. With one eye on the 2000 Olympics, and a possible move up in distance, Kiekara started to turn her attention to the roads.<br /><br /></p>
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Catherina McKiernan (4), Liz McColgan (1) and eventual winner Annemari Sandell (2) in action at the Bupa International Road Race in Portsmouth</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Not many athletes choose to make their half marathon debut at the World Half Marathon Championships, but Kiekara had regularly raced against the world&rsquo;s best distance runners and wasn&rsquo;t intimidated by the opposition at the 1998 event in the Swiss town of Uster.</p>
<p>Kiekara ran smartly and passed through 10km in 33:20, holding back from the fast initial pace set by defending champion Tegla Loroupe and Elana Meyer. Kiekara then put in a surge over the next five kilometres to move from 17th into the top six and maintained her momentum to the end, eventually finishing fifth in a national record of 1:10:04.</p>
<p>But despite the promising start to her career on the roads, Kiekara&rsquo;s transition to road running was hampered by persistent hamstring injuries.</p>
<p>&ldquo;When I competed at the 1998 World Half Marathon Championships, I thought my road-running career would take off from there,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;But little more than a year later, in 2000, I started to struggle with bad hamstring problems.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It took a really long time to fix my hamstrings. Physiotherapy initially didn&rsquo;t help, so I underwent surgery in 2003. In hindsight, it probably should have been done earlier. I went on to have many more operations &ndash; four on my right hamstring and two on my left. Along with the injuries, I also took breaks from training when I had my children (born in 2004, 2007 and 2010).&rdquo;</p>
<p>Since 2000, Kiekara hasn&rsquo;t competed at any global championships on the track or road, and the stunning times she ran as an U20 remain her lifetime bests. Over time, her priority has shifted towards ensuring she can enjoy a long career in the sport.<br /><br /></p>
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Annemari Sandell-Hyv&auml;rinen takes the 2008 Nordic Cross Country title</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It means less time on the track, more on the roads, and even more time devoted to prehab. But the approach is clearly working and this year, aged 43, Kiekara won the Finnish 5000m and 10,000m titles, finished second in both events at the Finnkampen Sweden vs Finland match, and clocked 1:13:56 for the half marathon.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I love running, and I get so much from it, physically and psychologically,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Training has become a bit more challenging over time, but I try to make sure that I do my recovery runs very slow and I use a heart-rate monitor more than I used to. I also do a lot of physiotherapy at home and I use a Cellu M6 LPG device every day to help with injury prevention.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been doing a few more track races this year because of my commitments with my club and the national federation, but these days I much prefer racing on the roads.&rdquo;</p>
<h3>Goals for Gdynia and beyond</h3>
<p>Twenty-two years since her last appearance at the championships, Kiekara will head to Poland next week as Finland&rsquo;s sole entrant for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020.</p>
<p>Having been one of the youngest lining up in Uster in 1998, Kiekara will be among the oldest entered for this year&rsquo;s championships. Indeed, some of the top contenders in Gdynia hadn&rsquo;t even been born when Kiekara made her Olympic debut in 1996. But Kiekara is simply grateful to have another opportunity to represent Finland internationally.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Back then, when I competed at my first World Half Marathon Championships, I had no idea that 22 years later I&rsquo;d still be competing internationally,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;It feels great to represent Finland again. I&rsquo;m so thankful to have the chance to run again after such bad injuries. I&rsquo;ve learned to always listen to my body, especially my legs.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There are so many good runners competing in Gdynia, I know the competition will be really tough. But if everything goes well, I&rsquo;d like to run somewhere in the region of 1:11 to 1:12.&rdquo;<br /><br /></p>
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<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B80au8Ln-FJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Annemari Kiekara (@annukkakiekara)</a> on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2020-02-21T06:34:00+00:00">Feb 20, 2020 at 10:34pm PST</time></p>
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<p>And after the disappointment of 2000, Kiekara doesn&rsquo;t rule out the possibility of making her long-awaited second Olympic appearance in 2021.</p>
<p>&ldquo;My goal, if I can stay injury-free, is to qualify for the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;And if I can achieve that next year, then maybe I&rsquo;ll start to think about the one after.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Her main desire, though, is to be an example for other young talents in the sport and to show that, regardless of how early a career may peak, it&rsquo;s still possible to enjoy a long and fulfilling career.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I hope that young athletes are surrounded by trust-worthy people who advise them not to spend too much time reading what&rsquo;s written about them in the media or posted on social media, because sometimes it&rsquo;s not always nice or helpful.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to show all young talented athletes that you can do so much when you really want to and don't give up,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also important to remember that there are other things in life outside of sport.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics</strong></p>

Annemari Kiekara has vivid memories of the marathon at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Twenty-two years since last World Half appearance, Kiekara ready for international return

<p><br />Entry lists for the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong>, set for 17 October, are now available.</p>
<p>Based on the final figures, 157 men and 126 women from 62 teams have been entered for the championships to take place in the northern Polish city, the only World Athletics Series event on the global calendar in 2020.</p>
<p>- <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=309048f7-6b39-4368-89a8-89ef06f4b385.pdf&amp;urlSlug=gdynia-2020-entries-by-event"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Entries by event</strong></span></a><br />- <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=61faeb6a-804d-4a72-9ddd-3fb6054f285e.pdf&amp;urlSlug=gdynia-2020-entries-by-country"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Entries by country</strong></span></a></p>
<p>The gun will sound the start of the women's race at 11am local time (UTC+2) while the men's is scheduled to get underway at 12:30.</p>
<p>Official start lists will be published in the week before the event.</p>
<p><strong>World Athletics</strong></p>

Entry lists for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, set for 17 October, are now available.

World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 entry lists available

<p><strong><br />In the latest in our series of features in the countdown to the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, we look back at five of the finest performers from past championships.<br /><br /></strong></p>
<h3>Zersenay Tadese</h3>
<p>The man known as &ldquo;Mr. Half Marathon&rdquo; lived up to the moniker by securing a record-breaking five world half marathon titles during a sublime career over the 21.1km distance.</p>
<p>An outstanding talent on all surfaces, Tadese also won 2004 Olympic 10,000m bronze and the 2007 world cross country title. But the Eritrean was perhaps best suited to the half marathon.</p>
<p>Physiologically gifted &ndash; tests found he required much less oxygen per kilometre than many of his contemporaries &ndash; he set two world records over the distance, including his 58:23 mark set in Lisbon in 2010 which stood for eight years.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Yet it was probably his outstanding success at the World Half Marathon Championships for which he is best remembered. Tadese captured four successive titles from 2006*, the year he captured Eritrea&rsquo;s first world title, to 2009, and then collected a fifth in 30c temperatures in Kavarna, Bulgaria in 2012.</p>
<p>His 2007 gold in Udine was secured courtesy of a national record (58:59), although his most eye-catching global title victory came 12 months later in Rio when he secured the top spot by a near two-minute margin. In 2010 he also snared an individual silver and secured team gold for Eritrea in 2014 after placing fourth in the individual race.</p>
<h3>Geoffrey Kamworor</h3>
<p>If Tadese is commonly regarded as the greatest half-marathoner of all-time then Geoffrey Kamworor could be poised as the man to dislodge him of the title.</p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/ff08a77b-d810-470d-979d-ebd2374d162f.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>
<p>Kamworor has captured the last three titles over the distance. Taking his maiden title in Copenhagen when stopping the clock in 59:08, he retained his title two years later in Cardiff, despite losing his footing and slipping at the start, losing 15 precious seconds. The Kenyan completed the hat-trick two years ago by dismantling the field with a second 10km split of 27:46 in Valencia.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old has also claimed two world cross country golds, two New York City Marathon wins and a world 10,000m silver medal during his stellar career. Last year, he also added the world record for the 21.1km distance to his impressive CV, scalping 17 seconds from the previous mark with a dazzling 58:01 run in Copenhagen.</p>
<p>[Watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrYwjL7B3hM"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>2014</strong></span></a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyBpl3NBzUg"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>2016</strong></span></a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExXzWLTg48I"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>2018</strong></span></a> races.]</p>
<h3>Tegla Loroupe</h3>
<p>Today the diminutive Kenyan stands tall as a global advocate for peace, women&rsquo;s rights and education but it is sometimes forgotten that during an earlier phase of her career, Loroupe was a distance running superstar who enjoyed sustained success over the half marathon distance.</p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/bfdbc70d-00d0-465c-ac80-969656e3a674.png?cachebuster=2a76bf61-c8df-44c4-ab5d-8a8a34511cc3" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>
<p>A world marathon record holder and winner of the New York City, Berlin and London marathons, Loroupe also became the first woman to claim a hat-trick of world half marathon titles from 1997-99. Four years after racing to bronze at the 1993 World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, Loroupe romped to victory in Kosice, Slovakia in 1:08:14, a championship record.</p>
<p>The following year in Uster, Switzerland, she retained her title in an absorbing head-to-head battle with Elena Meyer, the 1994 champion, before clinching her hat-trick in Palermo where she defeated rising Japanese talent Mizuki Noguchi.</p>
<p>In a stellar career over 21.1km, Loroupe also secured six Lisbon Half Marathon victories.</p>
<h3>Paul Tergat</h3>
<p>As a five-time world cross country champion, two-time Olympic 10,000m silver medallist and world marathon record-holder, Paul Tergat was a distance running colossus. But the Kenyan also boasted a proud record in the World Half Marathon Championships, winning back-to-back men&rsquo;s titles in 1999 and 2000.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/d7625a33-d091-40de-9d38-590efb43edb5.jpg?cachebuster=ca6625ce-c0f6-4ea8-980a-63970ad1b890" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>
<p>The Kenyan Air Force major first set a world half marathon record in Milan in 1993 with a 1:00:13 clocking before he reclaimed the mark with a blistering 59:17 on the same course five years later.</p>
<p>So when he took to the start line in 1999 for his debut appearance at the World Half Marathon Championships in Palermo he was rightly installed as clear favourite. Tergat lived up to the billing. Despite an official accidentally blocking his path 100 metres from the finish, he sprinted to victory in 1:01:50 defeating South Africa&rsquo;s Hendrick Ramaala.</p>
<p>Just seven weeks after agonisingly missing out on Olympic 10,000m gold in Sydney by 0.09 to long-time rival Haile Gebrselassie, Tergat bounced back to mount a successful defence of his half marathon crown in Veracruz, Mexico.</p>
<p>Earlier that year, Tergat had lowered his world half marathon record by 11 seconds in Lisbon with a blistering 59:06 clocking and in hot and humid conditions in Mexico he proved too strong for the opposition to retain his title in 1:03:47, one second clear of Tanzania&rsquo;s Phaustin Sulle.</p>
<h3>Paula Radcliffe</h3>
<p>As a former world marathon record-holder, world marathon champion and world cross country champion, there is little questioning the British athlete&rsquo;s status as a distance running icon.</p>
<p><img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/ed44cefa-8d05-4a7d-91d3-fc164c984dbc.png" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></p>
<p>However, it was the first of her three half marathon championships victories, at the 2000 edition in Veracruz, which acted as the gateway to her future success.</p>
<p>Up until that point in her career, Radcliffe was an eternal bridesmaid on the global stage as a world 10,000m silver medallist and world cross country silver medallist.</p>
<p>Yet just three weeks after blasting to a 1:07:07 clocking to win the Great North Run, she finally snapped the streak of silver in the much hotter temperatures in Veracruz to clinch her first senior global title, defeating Susan Chepkemei of Kenya by 33 seconds.</p>
<p>Her first world cross country title the following March bolstered her confidence. She then added further lustre to her growing reputation by romping to victory at the 2001 World Half Marathon Championships in Bristol by romping to victory in a championship record 1:06:47, then the second fastest time in history.</p>
<p>Her World Half Marathon Championships story ended in 2003 as the Briton, who earlier that year had posted an eye-popping 2:15:25 world marathon record in London, secured her third title in Vilamoura, Portugal, defeating Berhane Adere by nearly a minute and a half in 1:07:35.</p>
<p><strong>Steve Landells for the IAAF</strong></p>
<p><em>*In 2006 the event was staged as the World Road Running Championships over 20km.</em></p>

In the latest in our series of features in the countdown to the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, we look back at five of the finest performers from past championships.

Top five World Half Marathon Championships legends

<p><br />Distance stars Joshua Cheptegei and Sifan Hassan are among the top names entered for the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on 17 October.</p>
<p>Based on the figures at the entry deadline, 157 men and 127 women from 62 teams have been entered for the championships. Even with the expected slight drop in numbers ahead of the publication of the official start lists, the figures compare favourably to previous editions, most of which ranged between 150 and 250 athletes.</p>
<p>Cheptegei, the world 10,000m champion, and teammate Jacob Kiplimo, the world leader over 3000m, spearhead the Ugandan team and will seek to replicate the 1-2 finish they achieved at last year&rsquo;s World Cross Country Championships. Cheptegei, who earlier this year broke the world 5000m record, will be making his half marathon debut.</p>
<p>Kibiwott Kandie, who leads the 2020 world lists after his 58:38 victory in Prague early this month, fronts a formidable Kenyan squad. European record-holder Julien Wanders of Switzerland is also entered.</p>
<p>Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ababel Yeshaneh and Kenya&rsquo;s 2016 world half marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, who respectively hold the outright and women-only world records for the half marathon, are set to clash in the women's race.</p>
<p>Ethiopia's Netsanet Gudeta, who won in Valencia two years ago in a women-only world record time, will defend her world half marathon title.</p>
<p>In one of the highest-quality fields ever for a half marathon, 15 of the men entered have sub-60-minute PBs and a further 14 have PBs inside 61 minutes. The 10 fastest women entered have PBs of 1:06:30 or faster, while 21 women in total have sub-69-minute PBs. Area record-holders for Africa, Europe and Asia are also entered.</p>
<p>Official start lists will be published in the week before the event.</p>
<p><strong>World Athletics</strong></p>

Distance stars Joshua Cheptegei and Sifan Hassan are among the top names entered for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on 17 October.

Global champions and world record-holders entered for World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

<p><br />Spain will send a team of five men and three women to the <strong>World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</strong> on 17 October.</p>
<p>The men's squad is led by Juan Antonio Perez, who boasts a 1:00:58 career best set in Valencia last year, and includes Adel Mechaal and veteran Ayad Lamdassem, both multiple medallists at the continental level on the track and in cross country.</p>
<p>Elena Loyo, the reigning national half marathon champion, leads the women's team.</p>
<h3>Spanish team for Gdynia</h3>
<p><strong>Men:</strong> Antonio Abadia, Jorge Blanco, Ayad Lamdassem, Adel Mechaal, Juan Antonio Perez</p>
<p><strong>Women:</strong> Marta Galimany, Elena Loyo, Laura M&eacute;ndez</p>

Spain will send a team of five men and three women to the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on 17 October.

Spain announces squad for World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

When Joshua Cheptegei made history to wipe 1.99 seconds from Kenenisa Bekele’s world 5000m record in Monaco in August, it generated an outpouring of ecstasy in a mild-mannered Dutchman situated some 9000 kilometres away in Uganda.

WORLD ATHLETICS HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS

Kiplimo’s rise continues with first senior world title

After second global title and third world record, Jepchirchir cements place in history as a half marathon all-time great

Kiplimo makes history for Uganda at World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

Jepchirchir breaks women-only world record at World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

How to follow and watch the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020