Date: Sunday, 20 September 2026
Seare is 21, his 12:56 in Copenhagen is an Eritrean record and the fastest these championships have produced, and he took the win off Ingebrigtsen in the last 100 meters.
With 200 meters to run, Ingebrigtsen was in front. He had come off Seare’s shoulder and gone by, the finishing move he has built a career on. Seare went after him anyway, drew even inside the last 100 meters, and had a stride in hand when the clock stopped. His 12:56 is an Eritrean record. Ingebrigtsen’s 12:59 is a Norwegian record, and he ran it on his 26th birthday.
Saymon Amanuel took bronze in 13:00, at 19, and Eritrea left with two of the three medals. The country’s world titles have belonged almost entirely to two men until now: Zersenay Tadese, who won five world road titles between 2006 and 2012, and Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, the world marathon champion in 2015.
Copenhagen was Ingebrigtsen’s third weekend of racing in a row and his sixth start since he came back on Aug. 10. He was fourth in the 1,500m at the Diamond League final in Brussels on Sept. 4, won the 5,000m at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest eight days before this one, and came to Denmark with one road 5K on his record, a 13:28 in Stavanger in 2020. All of it has come seven months after surgery on the sheath around his left Achilles, which kept him out of racing for about 11 months.
Ky Robinson was fourth in 13:04, an Oceanian record, having come to Copenhagen off the Commonwealth 10,000m title and a ninth place at the Ultimate Championship. Keneth Kiprop of Uganda was given the same time in fifth, with Addisu Yihune sixth in 13:07 and Mezgebu Sime seventh in 13:08. Likina Amebaw won the women’s 5K in 14:41.
Robert Farken and Agathe Guillemot had taken the road mile titles that morning, Farken in 3:51.80 ahead of Yared Nuguse, and Guillemot in a European record of 4:22.74.
1 Dawit Seare (ERI) 12:56
2 Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 12:59
3 Saymon Amanuel (ERI) 13:00
4 Ky Robinson (AUS) 13:04
5 Keneth Kiprop (UGA) 13:04
6 Addisu Yihune (ETH) 13:07
7 Mezgebu Sime (ETH) 13:08
8 Mathew Kipchumba Kipsang (KEN) 13:11
9 Egide Ntakarutimana (BDI) 13:12
