Kiplimo and Chebet, favorites to retain their world cross country crown

Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo and Kenyan Beatrice Chebet defend their world cross country crowns in Belgrade (Serbia)in a championship with a small presence of European athletes – only five countries – and where Spain participates with nine athletes (five men and four women) in the absolute categories.

Thirteen months after the last edition in Bathurst (Australia), the World Cross Country Championships is holding a new edition in Belgrade, a different place than the first choice in Medulin and Pula (Croatia), which was not released due to organizational delays.

The rival to beat in the men’s category is half marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimowho, at 23 years old, is looking to repeat last year’s success and continue to add to his track record in cross country, after winning the under-20 category in 2017.

Kiplimo’s main rival is his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei, 27 years oldwho in 2023 was declared the world champion of 10,000 meters on the track in Budapest and the last race was two weeks ago in the Spanish town of Laredo, where he finished second in ten kilometers, overtaken at the finish line by Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha .

The Ethiopians will certainly want to win ahead of the Ugandans, a priori favourites, and celebrate victory for their country again in the senior category, something that has not happened since 2011 with Imane Merga in Punta Umbría .

The leading candidate in Ethiopia is Berihu Aregawi, 23 years oldwho finished second last year and is the holder of the 5 km world record, although Dinkalem Ayele, champion of the Lisbon half marathon, and Tadesse Worku, world sub-20 3,000 meter champion, are also seeking a surprise.

Kenyan Sebastian Sawe is also not ruling out his entry on the podiumwinner of the half marathon World Cup in Riga in 2023, or Nicholas Kipkorir, fourth, one step away from medals in the 5,000 at the Tokyo Olympics.

Third in the world cross country circuit classification is the Spanish Thierry Ndikumwenayo, who was ninth in 2019 representing Burundi. Since then, he has lowered his marks to 7:25.93 in the 3,000 and 12:55.47 in the 5,000 and achieved significant success this season, winning the Spanish Championship at the international meeting in Albufeira.

Ndikumwenayo is in the Spanish team of Aarón Las Heraswho was twentieth at Bathurst, in addition to Fernando Carro and Nassim Hassaous.

The American team features three-time collegiate steeplechase champion Anthony Rotich, who is joined by Emmanuel Bor, Reid Buchanan, Christian Allen, Anthony Camieri and Ahmed Muhumed.

Patrick Tiernan, who will finish 13th at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships, leads the Australian team, while the British team is led by European under-23 cross country champion Will Barnicoat.

Three countries are represented for the first time in the World Cross in this year’s edition: Afghanistan (Mohammad Karim), Honduras (Iván Zarco) and Montenegro (Željko Dabović).

BEATRICE CHEBET, RIVAL TO BEAT

In the women’s race, the big favorite is Kenyan Beatrice Chebetwho last year achieved victory after Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey fell twenty meters from the finish line.

Of last year’s top ten, only Chebet and compatriot Agnes Jebet Ngetich are repeating on the starting linethird in 2023, national cross-country champion and 10-kilometer world record holder since January in Valencia.

Another Kenyan, Emmaculate Anyango, second in the national championship and second in the 10k in Valencia this year with 28:57, second best time in history with 28:57, is seeking a surprise to celebrate the victory, something that Ethiopia dreams of with a team. a mix of youth and little experience led by debutant Girmawit Gebrzihair and the double winner of the Amsterdam Marathon Tadelech Bekele, 32 years old.

Ugandan Rachael Zena Chebet has been the best non-Ethiopian and Kenyan athlete at the World Cross Country Championships in the past decade, after finishing fourth in 2019. The 27-year-old won the national cross country title by 25 seconds and is eager to lead his team to another medal, having won the team bronze in 2019.

Among the absent are the Dutch Sifan Hassan, who resigned after announcing that he would run, but also representatives from Italy, Germany and Poland, countries that have a certain tradition in the mud and did not attend the event.

Spain is under the leadership of Carolina Robles, recent national champion, and Irene Sánchez-Escribano, runner-up and eighth in European cross country, where she was the best in a team that won continental silver.

The team is completed by national marathon record holder Majida Maayouf and recent Spanish 10,000 meter runner-up Isabel Barreiro.

THE CIRCUIT

Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, will host the World Cross Country Championships for the first time at the same venue where the European Cross Country Championships were held in 2013, Friendship Park. It is an urban park with large, completely flat esplanades along the Danube River as it meets the city’s other major river, the Save.

The circuit is mostly grass and has a single route of around 1,900 meters per lap, with a small extra section at the start and finish. It’s mostly flat with a hay maze and a “classic cross-country obstacle,” according to the organization.

The championship will be dominated by the Eternal Flame, a 27-meter-high obelisk in memory of those killed in the 1999 NATO attack on the Serbian capital.

Full women’s and men’s races will be held on a ten kilometer route. The U-20 women’s race is six kilometers and the men’s race is eight kilometers.