Farken triumphs at Parken – a gold medal for Germany
They expected an athlete from the Boulder Training Group in the USA to triumph in the Men’s One Mile Race at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen this morning (Saturday 19 Sept) but it was German Robert Farken, training partner to race favourite, Yared Nugushe of the USA, who stole gold. Farken, who recently […] The post Farken triumphs at Parken – a gold medal for Germany appeared first on Sports Network Africa.
Black News 
They expected an athlete from the Boulder Training Group in the USA to triumph in the Men’s One Mile Race at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen this morning (Saturday 19 Sept) but it was German Robert Farken, training partner to race favourite, Yared Nugushe of the USA, who stole gold.
Farken, who recently moved his training base from Leipzig to Boulder to link up with athletes of the calibre of Nugushe and Australian Oliver Hoare, timed his challenge to perfection, charging past Yared Nuguse in the closing stages to triumph by 0,53 sec in a world-leading German record of 3:51.80.
Nugushe, who had led for most of the race, finished a close second in 3:52,33 with Ruben Querinjean winning a rare medal for Luxembourg taking third in 3:52,77.
“I’ve been staying with Yared in Copenhagen leading up to the race,” Farken remarked. “So I knew he planned to go out hard from the start. I chose to start more cautiously and kept just behind the chasing pack.
“I’m delighted that our training group got first and second, and Olly (Australian Oliver Hoare) got 6th, and also proud to have clinched gold for Germany. I’m just disappointed that there are no other German athletes at the event.”
Farken produced his decisive move with little more than 100m to the finish line, overhauling Nuguse before powering towards the finish near Parken Stadium.
Farken’s 3:51.80 moved him to second on the world all-time list for the road mile, behind only Elliot Giles’ world record of 3:51.3.
Nuguse had spoken before the race of challenging Giles’ world record and made his intentions clear from the gun. The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist immediately went to the front and quickly opened a small gap. Jake Heyward was the closest pursuer, a stride or so back, with Farken settled in third, biding his time for his explosive finish to take the title by the smallest of margins.
Farken finished sixth over 1500m at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo and has rewritten his national record books in 2026, clocking 3:30.09 for 1500m en route to a 3:46.82 mile in London in July.
Better known as a steeplechaser, the 24-year-old from Luxembourg, Querinjean, has enjoyed an outstanding 2026 campaign. He took European steeplechase silver in Birmingham last month and later lowered his Luxembourg record to 8:05.36.
His bronze was also historic. It was the first global senior athletics medal won by a Luxembourg man since Josy Barthel’s 1952 Olympic 1500m gold.
Morocco’s Anass Essayi was first athlete from Africa across the finish line at the Parken Stadium, finishing fourth in a PB of 3:53.28, with South African Tshepo Tshite second in 10th place in a national record of 3:55.66.
French favourite in the Women’s Mile, Agathe Guillemot, has had a busy two weeks in major World Athletics meetings. She finished sixth in the 1500m at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels before placing eighth at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest last weekend.
But she kept the best for last at Copenhagen, timing her finish to perfection to race to victory over Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu, who retained her silver medal in a season’s best of 4:24,35 after finishing second at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia in 2023.
Kenyan Mirriam Cherop made it a strong African podium presence with a solid third in 4:25,71, while Annemarie Nissen gave the sizeable Danish crowd something to cheer by finishing an impressive fourth in a PB of 4:26.78.
South Africa’s Karebo More raced to a national record, with an impressive PB in 4:33,27 in 15th place with the second Moroccan, Fatima Birdana, 22nd in 4:36,74.
The French 27-year-old, Guillemot, remained patient as a large lead group stayed together for much of the V-shaped course through Copenhagen, before moving to the front with little more than 20 seconds of racing remaining and kicking decisively for the first individual global title of her career.
Guillemot’s winning time took almost half a second off the previous European record of 4:23.25 set by Jemma Reekie in Dusseldorf earlier this month and moved the Frenchwoman to fourth on the world all-time list.
Hailu, one of the most experienced athletes in the field, was prominent from the outset alongside USA’s Addison Wiley. Behind them, Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom and Guillemot were content to tuck into a tightly packed group as the athletes headed along Østerbrogade.
Guillemot raised her arms after crossing in 4:22.74, bringing to a close a season that has taken her across track, short track, cross country and now road racing.
Behind her, Hailu showed once again how well suited she is to the road mile. The Ethiopian had run 4:23.06 when finishing second to Diribe Welteji at the 2023 championships in Riga and returned to the same step of the podium in Copenhagen.
Results
One Mile Men
1 Robert Farken (GER) 3:51.80
2 Yared Nuguse (USA) 3:52.33
3 Ruben Querinjean (LUX) 3:52.77
4 Anass Essayi (MAR) 3:53.28
5 Flavien Szot (FRA) 3:53.44
6 Oliver Hoare (AUS) 3:53.65
7 Pietro Arese (ITA) 3:54.37
8 Vincent Ciattei (USA) 3:54.62
9 Jude Thomas (AUS) 3:54.92
10 Tshepo Tshite (RSA) 3:55.66
One Mile Women
1 Agathe Guillemot (FRA) 4:22.74
2 Freweyni Hailu (ETH) 4:24.35
3 Mirriam Cherop (KEN) 4:25.71
4 Annemarie Nissen (DEN) 4:26.78
5 Naomi Korir (KEN) 4:29.15
6 Adelle Tracey (JAM) 4:29.30
7 Linden Hall (AUS) 4:29.36
8 Lucia Stafford (CAN) 4:29.51
9 Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (CAN) 4:30.59
10 Addison Wiley (USA) 4:31.02
The post Farken triumphs at Parken – a gold medal for Germany appeared first on Sports Network Africa.
