Cheptegei and Kiplimo, favorites for glory at the Cross World Championship

the Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, current world cross country champion, is looking to reaffirm his crown at the Bathurst World Championship (Australia) against his compatriot Jakob Kiplimo and a large list of international athletes, including five Spanish athletes.

African runners, especially from Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, are called the great protagonists of the Bathurst World Cup in both the male and female categories.

The three members of the World Cup podium in Aarhus (Denmark) in 2019, Ugandans Cheptegei and Kiplimo and Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor, third, will return to the starting line in search of victory, as will Ethiopian Selemon Barega, Olympic. 10,000 meters champion.

In the women’s category, one of the main candidates for victory is the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, bronze at the 2019 World Cup and holds world records in the 5,000, 10,000 and half marathon. Along with her, her compatriot Gete Alemayehu, Eritrean Rahel Daniel and Kenyan Beatrice Chebet are chasing medals.

The Spanish delegation consisted of twenty-two athletes, ten of them for the full tests. In the men’s category, Andreu Blanes, Nassim Hassaous, Aarón las Heras, Abdessamad Oukhelfen and Sergio Paniagua will compete, while in the women’s category, Naima Ait Alibou, Laura Luengo, Carolina Robles, Cristina Ruiz and Irene Sánchez-Escribano will compete.

For the Bathurst 2023 mixed relay, Spain presents a young team with Rosalía Tárraga as the most experienced athlete at full international level. In his debut with the national team in the past in Europe, he won silver in the mixed relay, completing a spectacular last post.

HISTORY OF SPAIN

In the last edition, held in Aarhu four years ago, Spain finished sixth in the mixed relay, tenth among teams in the all-female category and twelfth in the all-male category. Individually, Irene Sánchez-Escribano and Ouassim Oumaiz put in the most outstanding performances with two commendable 25th and 20th places, respectively, in the toughest international championship on the calendar.

In the entire fifty-year history of the Cross World Championship, Spain has six individual medals. Carmen Valero won bronze in 1975 and was proclaimed champion in 1976 and 1977, while Mariano Haro chained three silver medals in 1973, 1974 and 1975.

By teams, Spain’s list of winners is four men’s bronze, those in 1990, 1991, 1995 and 2002, the last in the short cross, while in the sub20 category the national delegation climbed the team podium of twelve times (two gold, four silver and six bronze) and one each in another six (two gold, three silver and one bronze).