WRRC Copenhagen 26 preview: women's 5km

Fresh from a dominant victory at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, Likina Amebaw will attempt to add another global title to her collection when she contests the women’s 5km at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26 on Saturday (19).

The Ethiopian will line up just six days after producing one of the standout distance performances in Budapest, where she broke away from a world-class 5000m field with two kilometres remaining and held on to win in 14:30.36.

That performance reinforced Amebaw’s status as one of the world’s leading distance runners in 2026. She heads the world rankings for 5000m and ran a world-leading 14:18.41 in Rome in June. Her road credentials are equally impressive: she clocked 29:29 for 10km in Valencia in January and has a 5km best of 14:23, set in Barcelona at the end of last year.

There will be little respite for Amebaw on the fast Copenhagen course, however, not least from her Ethiopian teammate who also raced her in Budapest. Aleshign Baweke finished fifth at the Ultimate Championship in 14:32.95, having pushed Amebaw to within 0.13 in their rapid 5000m race in Rome earlier this season.

The Kenyan challenge could prove just as formidable. Caroline Nyaga owns the fastest 5km PB in the Copenhagen field. Her 14:19 victory in Tokyo last year puts her fourth on the world all-time list, behind only Beatrice Chebet, Agnes Ngetich and Marta Alemayo. The 2022 African champion also finished sixth in the Commonwealth 5000m in Glasgow last month.

Caroline Gitonga, meanwhile, has put together one of the strongest road-running seasons of anyone in the field. She has set lifetime bests at all three of her principal road distances in 2026, running 29:34 for 10km, 1:06:16 for the half marathon and 14:26 for 5km. That latter performance makes her one of the fastest women in the world over the distance this year.

Europe also provides several genuine medal contenders. Diane van Es of the Netherlands has already rewritten the continental record books this year, clocking a European 5km record of 14:33 in Monaco in February. The European 10,000m silver medallist has considerable experience across both road and track.

Belgium’s Jana Van Lent has made similarly significant progress. She lowered her national road 10km record to 30:10 in January, ran another national record of 14:36 for 5km in Utrecht and then earned 10,000m bronze at the European Championships in Birmingham.

Samiya Hassan Nour is another athlete with proven road speed. The Djiboutian has run 14:38 for 5km this year, while Burundi’s Francine Niyomukunzi improved her 5000m best to 14:41.46 in Rome in June.

Several athletes who competed at the Ultimate Championship will make the same rapid journey from Budapest to Copenhagen as Amebaw.

Australia’s Rose Davies finished sixth in Budapest in a season’s best of 14:35.64, having claimed the Commonwealth 5000m title in Glasgow earlier in the summer. Hannah Nuttall, 11th at the Ultimate Championship, finished fifth at the Commonwealth Games and has run 8:26.48 for 3000m this season.

Nuttall’s British teammate Megan Keith took Commonwealth bronze and brings particularly strong road credentials, having set a British 10km record of 30:07 in Castellón in February before running 1:07:13 for the half marathon the following month.

Georgia Griffith is another strong Australian contender. The world indoor medallist owns a 14:32.82 5000m PB and an Australian record of 8:24.20 for 3000m, giving her the kind of speed that could become particularly valuable if the race remains tightly bunched.

At the other end of the experience scale is Uganda’s Charity Cherop. The 19-year-old enjoyed a superb World U20 Championships in Oregon, winning the 5000m title and taking bronze over 3000m. She also ran a national U20 record of 14:39.38 for 5000m earlier this season.

The US challenge includes Courtney Frerichs, whose championship pedigree stretches back almost a decade. The Olympic and world 3000m steeplechase silver medallist has a 14:48.75 5000m best, while three-time NCAA champion Allie Ostrander adds further depth.

With Amebaw carrying the strongest form of the field, she will start as the athlete to beat. But with an Ethiopian teammate who has already run close to her this year, a Kenyan pair boasting some of the fastest road credentials in the field, and a sizeable group of European and Commonwealth medallists, another runaway victory is far from guaranteed.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics