2024 World Cross Country Championships Preview
More than 500 athletes will descend on the Park of Friendship in Belgrade this weekend for the 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships.
The Serbian capital, which was handed the event late last year after it was found that Croatia’s preparations were too far behind schedule, has a tough act to follow. As renowned sportswriter Jonathon Gault so eloquently put it, “…the last World XC was an absolute banger.”
Indeed, it was. Beatrice Chebet flew past a faltering Letesenbet Gidey in the dying metres to keep the women’s title in Kenyan hands, while Jacob Kiplimo survived truly apocalyptic conditions to win the men’s race.
Coupled with the fact that the sport is at a pivotal point in its existence (more on that later), there are understandably nervous expectations ahead of this year’s event.
The Belgrade course isn’t particularly exciting. While cross country typically favours strong half marathon runners, a couple of visiting US coaches from Boston suggested that the relatively featureless route will be a track runner’s delight. In the event where the marathoners meet the milers, the odds seem to be tilted in favour of the latter.
The 2024 World Cross Country Championships medals
Elite Women
The good news for defending champion Beatrice Chebet is that competition from the rest of the world appears much easier this year. The bad news is that from within her own team, it looks even more difficult.
When an exhausted Letesenbet Gidey collapsed metres from the finish line in Bathurst 12 months ago, Chebet eased past to claim victory. Fast forward to the middle of the year and Chebet was winning Diamond League races on the track and medalling at the World Athletics Championships. The end of her season was just as impressive: twice she stepped onto the roads over 5km, and twice she claimed victory – once to win the world title in October and once to break the world record in December.
Beatrice Chebet celebrates winning the 2023 World Cross Country Championships
These achievements help frame the dominance of this year’s Kenyan team. Earlier this month, Chebet was beaten into fourth place at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, and the three women who finished ahead of her will be eyeing off her title this weekend.
Crossing the line first was newly crowned 10km world record holder Agnes Ngetich. The Kenyan mounted a late kick at the World Cross Country Championships last year to clinch bronze but remained a somewhat unknown quantity until January this year. But on a cool morning in Valencia, Ngetich announced herself to the world when she ran 14:13 for 5km to equal Chebet’s world record from the previous month, before storming on to clock 28:46 and become the first woman to break 29 minutes for 10km. Her victory at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships has only reaffirmed her form, and her presence in Belgrade will surely be felt at the front of the field.
Ngetich has an echo in the form of Emmaculate Anyango. Always following a few moments later, Anyango became the second woman to run under 29 minutes when she registered 28:57 in that same race in Valencia, before going on to finish three seconds adrift for silver at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships. Despite the lack of gold in her trophy cabinet, Anyango is one of the best in the world: if history has taught us anything, it’s that when Anyango and Ngetich are on the same start line, the race is going to be painfully fast.
The three remaining spots on the team have been filled by Lilian Rengeruk, Margaret Kipkemboi, and Cintia Chepngeno – a trio with seven global medals between them.
Kenyan women have held the World Cross Country title since 2009, and it’s difficult to see them relinquishing it this year. The question now is whether they can sweep the medals, or perhaps even replicate the most dominant performance in global cross country history: their unfathomable 1-2-3-4-5-6 finish in Kampala in 2017.
Elite Men
Three men – Mo Farah, Joshua Cheptegei, and Jacob Kiplimo – have more or less been responsible for breaking up the dominant distance running duo that is Kenya and Ethiopia. Farah is, of course, retired, but Cheptegei and Kiplimo are in their prime and have travelled to Belgrade in a bid to keep the World Cross Country title in Ugandan hands.
Between them, the pair have won almost every major title and broken every world record from 5000m to the half marathon. Cheptegei has done most of his damage on the track, winning three straight world 10,000m titles, Olympic 5000m gold, and setting world records in the 5000m and 10,000m. Kiplimo is more suited to the roads, where he has enjoyed global titles and world records over the half marathon. They also have one senior cross country title apiece: Cheptegei beat his countryman to the line by four seconds in 2019, while Kiplimo executed a long drive home last year to flip the script.
Unfortunately, the last seven months have not been particularly kind to either of them. After his win in Bathurst, Kiplimo went on to run 12:41 for 5000m and put himself at number six on the all-time list. Sadly, that performance was followed by a hamstring injury that ruled the Ugandan out of the World Athletics Championships and the World Half Marathon Championships. Meanwhile, a foot injury hampered Cheptegei’s buildup for his marathon debut late last year, during which he faded dramatically to come home just 37th. Both have rebounded well and posted strong season openers, but with the first global title of the year on the line, tomorrow’s race will no doubt carry additional importance.
If anyone is going to spoil the Ugandan party, it will be Berihu Aregawi. Ethiopia has not won this race since 2011, but the world 5km record holder who split Kiplimo and Cheptegei last year to finish second in Bathurst believes he can upgrade his silver in the Serbian capital.
“My biggest goals for the 2024 season are to compete at the World Cross Country Championships and at the Olympic Games. I am aiming for gold medals.”
Kenya, which won the team event last year but failed to bring home an individual medal, will be hoping that reigning World Half Marathon Champion Sabastian Sawe can reverse its fortunes. Sawe will be joined by Ishmael Kipkirui, who won the World U20 Cross Country title last year and is stepping into the senior ranks for the first time.
Outside of Africa, Liam Adams and Patrick Tiernan head an Australian team hoping to replicate their success from last year. The host country finished fourth behind powerhouses Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda in both the men’s and women’s races in Bathurst and will be looking to maintain their status as the best of the rest.
The Cross Country Conundrum
Cross country has its roots in Europe. World Athletics is based in Europe. The infrastructure is excellent throughout Europe. It might, therefore, seem natural that Belgrade – a European city – has been chosen to host the 2024 World Cross Country Championships. However, if you take a moment to look at the state of the sport across the continent, you will see why this Euro-centric approach to cross country is flawed.
The top 10 finishers in both races at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships all hailed from African countries. Anyone who watches athletics knows this is to be expected: East Africa has long enjoyed its unchallenged position atop the distance running world. But the important story is the one being writ behind the leaders, where a trail of often unestablished runners from fringe athletics nations stagger home some 10 minutes behind. Why? Because European countries – which are usually responsible for bridging the gap across the midfield – are refusing to show up. Like a child who doesn’t want to play because you won’t let them win, these nations continue to host events that they simply don’t care about.
Countries can send six athletes in each race, the top four of whom will score points for their team. At the 2019 championships in Denmark – a simple trip for most European federations – only three nations fielded a team with enough athletes to qualify for points. In Bathurst last year, Spain was the only European country to send enough qualifying runners, and this year’s edition, which is again hosted in Europe, will only see two European countries capable of scoring. Even Serbia, who is hosting the event, hasn’t decided to put together a team. Most of these countries use excuses like the Olympics as reasons for not showing up, but if even the host nation can’t be bothered to field a team, why are we still giving these events to Europe?
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, and one that needs correcting. European nations don’t send anyone to the World Cross Country Championships, which leads to total African domination, which leads to European nations not sending anyone, which leads to…
It’s one more argument for why Africa should be given the opportunity to host more events. True, the infrastructure is worse in many places, but the least World Athletics could do is redirect funds to countries that are passionate about the sport. A dramatic and exciting global championship in Uganda seven years ago should have been evidence enough that African nations are more than capable of hosting these events, but World Athletics hasn’t returned to the continent since. It’s time to let the best in the world compete in front of their home crowds.
Find out how you can watch the 2024 World Cross Country Championships here.