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Three U.S. runners who were guided off course during the U.S. Half Marathon Championships were granted waivers for the World Road Championships.
World Athletics said it would allow the United States to bring seven runners to the World Road Running Championships in September after Jessica McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat were taken off course during the half marathon in Atlanta earlier this month.
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Jessica McClain (USA) places eighth in the women’s marathon in 2:28:32 during the World Athletics Championships at the National Stadium on September 14, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Athletics’ governing body said only four runners will be registered as “scoring athletes”, meaning the other three will not be able to compete for medals or prize money at the world championships in Copenhagen.
“In working to find a solution, World Athletics has been sympathetic to the affected athletes, who would otherwise miss out on competing at WRRC Copenhagen 2026, and understanding of the unprecedented situation USATF – one of our leading member federations – has found itself in,” World Athletics said.
The organization added that USA Track and Field (USATF) will be able to select which four athletes will be entered as scoring athletes.
Ednah Kurgat (USA) places 10th in the senior women’s race in 33:16 during the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26 at Apalachee Regional Park on January 10, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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USATF said that “we are grateful for their cooperation in helping us honor all the athletes involved in this extraordinary situation.”
World Athletics said the situation surrounding McClain, Hurley and Kurgat involved an “extraordinary set of circumstances” at the US half-marathon championships in Atlanta.
McClain led the race with about two miles to go. But her run was thrown off course when she was led off the path by a media vehicle. McClain followed the media vehicle, the police motorcycle and a motorcycle with a camera.
She finished ninth, while Hurley and Kurgat finished 12th and 13th, respectively.
“Good things take time,” McClain wrote in a post on his Instagram Stories.
The first woman to cross the half marathon finish line, Emma Grace Hurley of Indianapolis, won her category in 1:08:25. Runners compete in the 17th annual Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on Saturday, November 9, 2024. (Doug McSchooler/for IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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World Athletics made it clear that its decision was a “strictly one-off basis.”
