Peres Jepchirchir chasing third world half marathon title in Riga

When it comes to major road races, Peres Jepchirchir knows how to get the job done.

The Kenyan star turns 30 this week and, at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23, she will look to celebrate it in style by claiming her third world half marathon title.

Three women – Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe, Britain’s Paula Radcliffe and the Netherlands’ Lornah Kiplagat – have accomplished that before and on Sunday afternoon, Jepchirchir will look to complete the hat-trick after prior victories in 2016 and 2020.

Jepchirchir is the Olympic marathon champion and has taken major wins at that distance since then in New York (2021) and Boston (2022).

Having struggled with injury through parts of last year, she bounced back to finish third at the London Marathon in April, clocking 2:18:38.

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She went on to win the Great North Run half marathon on 10 September, clocking 1:06:45, and given her renowned closing speed, the women-only half marathon world record-holder – who ran 1:05:16 to win her 2020 world title in Gdynia – will prove tough to beat if she’s near her best.

She will be backed up by a slew of formidable teammates, led by Irine Kimais, the Kenyan 10,000m champion who finished a fine fourth at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

The 24-year-old is the quickest in the field via her PB of 1:04:37, which she ran to claim victory at the Barcelona Half Marathon in February.

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Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi should also feature, boasting a PB of 1:05:26, and she was a 10,000m bronze medalist at last year’s World Athletics Championships, finishing fourth in the 5000m this year in Budapest.

Catherine Relin is another Kenyan name to watch, the 21-year-old setting her personal best (PB) of 1:05:39 to finish third in Barcelona in February.

Ethiopia has won the women’s individual title just three times in the event’s history, a relatively meagre return for such a distance-running superpower, but they have taken the last two team titles and will be keen to make it a third straight in Riga.

Their team is led by Tsigie Gebreselama, who will be backed up by Ftaw Zeray, Yalemget Yaregal and Mestawut Fikir.

Gebreselama won silver at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst earlier this year and clocked her half marathon PB of 1:05:46 to finish second in Valencia last October.

Zeray has a best of 1:06:04, run at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February, while Yaregal – who is just 19 – ran her PB of 1:06:27 in Berlin in April.

Britain’s team will be led by Samantha Harrison, who ran her PB of 1:07:17 in Berlin this year, while Sweden’s Sarah Lahti – a 1:08:19 performer at her best – will also be eyeing a strong finish.

Australia’s Isobel Batt-Doyle, France’s Mekdes Woldu, Italy’s Sofiia Yaremchuk and South Africa’s Glenrose Xaba are among the others to have gone under 1:10.