FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 15th, 2020

2020 WORLD ATHLETICS HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS IN GDYNIA, POLAND, PRESENTED LIVE THIS SATURDAY AT 5 A.M. ET ON OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA

World Record Holders Joshua Cheptegei (Men’s) and Ababel Yeshaneh and Peres Jepchirchir (Women’s) Headline Field

Paul Swangard and Deena Kastor to Call the Men’s and Women’s Races

Encore Presentation – Sunday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN

All Olympic Sports Coverage Televised and Streamed Across NBC Sports Platforms is Presented by Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 15, 2020 – Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents live coverage of the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, this Saturday at 5 a.m. ET. An encore presentation of the event will be featured Sunday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Approximately 250 runners from over 50 countries will compete at the World Half Marathon Championships. The competition will mark the only World Athletics championship that will take place in 2020 with all other events either cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda), the world record holder in the 10,000 and 5,000m, will make his half marathon debut. He has won all three of his races this year, setting world records in each (having set the 5km record in Feb. in addition to the 10,000 and 5,000m).

On the women’s side, Ababel Yeshaneh (Ethiopia) is the current outright world record holder in the half marathon, which she set earlier this year in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. She will compete against the women’s-only half marathon world record holder, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya. Netsanet Gudeta (Ethiopia) will attempt to defend her world half marathon title from 2018.

Paul Swangard will call both races alongside analyst and 2004 Olympics women’s marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor.

All coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will stream on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app, in addition to NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Coverage of Olympic Sports on NBC Sports Group platforms is a presentation of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

–NBC SPORTS–