Upsets - including a stunner - rule the day
Chebet and Kiplimo win first senior titles in World Cross Country Championships
In a stunning turn of events, Beatrice Chebet of Kenya won the women’s race in the World Athletics Cross Country Championships at Mount Panorama near Bathurst, Australia on Saturday after Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia slowed dramatically in the final 300 meters of the race before staggering and then falling to the ground just after Chebet raced past her less than 50 meters before the finish.
Gidey, who appeared headed to a runaway victory two minutes earlier, seemed stunned after hitting the ground. She appeared to compose herself for several seconds before trying to get to her feet when a man carrying an Ethiopian flag ran on to the course and helped her stand up before another man — who appeared to be a member of the Ethiopian men’s team — ran in from the other direction and seemed to briefly direct her toward the finish line.
Gidey managed to cross the line in fourth place, but she was later disqualified because rules prohibit a runner from being aided in any way during a race.
Chebet, who won the U20 (under 20) women’s race in the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, timed 33 minutes 48 seconds over the 10,000-meter course on Saturday to finish eight seconds in front of runner-up Tsigie Gebreselama of Ethiopia (33:56) and 12 seconds ahead of Kenyan teammate Agnes Jebet Ngetich (34:00). Gidey was credited with a time of 34:10 before being disqualified.
Kenya placed four runners amongst the top eight finishers to total 16 points and defeat defending champion Ethiopia, which had 25 points, for the team title. Uganda placed third with 41 points.
"I did not expect to win but I hung in," Chebet said in a Reuters story. “I saw that towards the finish Gidey was a bit slower and I ran hard and I won. When we were running, I thought that she was not running fast anymore and I thought I have the potential to go and win."
There was also an upset in the men’s race as Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda easily turned back Berihu Aregawi of Ethiopia in second place and defending champion and countryman Joshua Cheptegei in third.
However, the men’s finish could not equal the drama of the women’s race.
The 24-year-old Gidey, who won the U20 women’s title in the 2015 and ‘17 World Cross Country Championships, had entered the race as a fairly-heavy favorite. She holds world records in the women’s 5,000 and 10,000 meters on the track and in the half marathon on the roads. In addition, she won the women’s 10,000 in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon last July before making the fastest women’s marathon debut in history in early December when she ran 2:16:49 to place second in a race in Valencia, Spain.
Looking to avoid getting tangled up with any runners in a tightly bunched lead pack, Gidey ran at the back of that group of 20 or so runners for the first half of the race before moving up to seventh at the end of the third two-kilometer loop that was completed in 20:43.
The lead pack was comprised of 15 runners at that point, but it was down to Gidey, Chebet, and Kenyan Grace Loibach Nawowuna after that trio went through eight kilometers in 26:53 following a lap that was nearly 40 seconds faster than any of the first three.
It soon turned into a duel between Gidey and the 22-year-old Chebet. But when Gidey picked up the pace right at the 30-minute mark while ascending an uphill portion of the challenging course, she quickly opened up a 10-meter lead on Chebet.
The third-place finisher from the 2019 meet looked very much in control at that point and continued to expand her lead over the next minute and a half. But she then grimaced for the first time as she ran down a grade just before the 32-minute mark.
She had an eight-second lead as she turned up the final uphill portion of the course, during which runners wove their way through several stacks of car tires. But Chebet made up a lot of ground on her near the top of the hill, and when Gidey turned left onto the final downhill run to the finish, which was probably less than 200 meters to go, her advantage was down to three seconds and she was still grimacing and starting to look behind her.
Chebet, the World Championship silver medalist in the 5,000, saw what was happening in front of her and stepped on the accelerator.
It wasn’t clear if Gidey’s grimacing was a sign of her legs cramping up on a hot, breezy day, but she was no longer running with the smooth stride for which she is so well known. The end result was her fall to the ground just after Chebet sped past her on her way to Kenya’s eighth consecutive individual women’s title.
While Chebet was helping Kenya extend a win streak of sorts in the women’s race, Cheptegei was trying to give Uganda its second consecutive individual victory in the men’s race after an Ethiopian or Kenyan runner had won 12 of the previous 13 titles.
Cheptegei, the world-record-holder in the men’s 5,000 and 10,000, looked very comfortable during the first part of the race that was started 20 minutes ahead of schedule because the forecast was calling for a thunderstorm to hit the area soon.
After being one of seven runners in the lead pack 20 minutes into the race, Cheptegei was one of four when he, Kiplimo, Aregawi, and 2015 and ’17 champion Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya had broken away from the others two minutes later.
Those four raced together for another three and a half minutes, but the 22-year-old Kiplimo had taken a three-second lead over Aregawi and Cheptegei a minute later, and Kamworor trailed by another 30 meters at that point.
Kiplimo, runner-up to Cheptegei in 2019, was never seriously challenged after that as Aregawi began to put some distance between himself and Chetegei.
Kiplimo’s lead was large enough after cresting the final uphill portion of the course that he was able to wave and point to people in the crowd during his ascent to the finish line.
His time of 29:17 over the 10,000-meter course left him nine seconds ahead of Aregawi (29:26) and 20 seconds ahead of Cheptegai (29:37).
Kamworor’s fourth-place finish in 29:37 ended his streak of three consecutive top-three finishes in the World Champioships. But it paced Kenya to a 4-5-6-7 finish and a 22-32 victory over second-place Ethiopia. Defending champion Uganda was third with 37 points.
It was Kenya’s first men’s title since 2011, when the country had won the last of six consecutive team championships.
“First place is very nice, I think I really wanted to win this time," said Kiplimo, winner of the 5,000 and 10,000 in the Commonwealth Games last year. “I think my tactics were the best. I want to win another gold medal for my country. That's my mission."
Cheptegei, who struggled with some injuries in the latter part of last year, told Reuters he was content with the bronze medal and would now focus on trying to win his third consecutive 10,000 title when the World Championships are held in Budapest, Hungary in August.
“I normally don’t like windy conditions so I think I am satisfied with the result,” he said. “I am very happy for Jacob.”
The mixed 4x2-kilometer relay was the first event of the meet on Saturday and it resulted in a Kenyan victory in a time of 23:14. Ethiopia finished second in 23:21, followed by Australia in 23:26.
South Africa’s Mafori Ryan Mphahlele had a half-stride lead over over Kenyan 800 specialist Emmanuel Wanyonyi at the end of the first loop in 5:41, with Commonwealth Games 1,500 champion Ollie Hoare of Australia third in 5:47. But Jessica Hull of Australia made up 11 seconds on Kenyan counterpart Mirriam Cherop during her leg to give the home team an five-second advantage over second-place Kenya when teammate Stewart McSweyn started the third leg. However, the Australia record-holder in the 1,500 could not maintain that lead as Kenya’s Kyumbe Munguti gave teammate Brenda Chebet an 11-second lead over second-place Australia after his leg.
Although Chebet lost half of her advantage to anchor runner Birke Haylom of defending relay champion Ethiopia, the Kenyans still won comfortably.
In the U20 men’s race, Kenya received a 1-2 finish from Ismael Kipkurui and Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot to edge two-time defending champion Ethiopia, 22-23, for the team title. The U.S. finished a surprising third with 81 points to mark the first time an American team has medaled in the U20 men’s race since finishing third behind Ethiopia and Italy in 1982.
Leo Young, a senior from Newbury Park High School in California, paced the U.S. effort by finishing 16th in 26:03.
Kipkurui and Cheruiyot, who had finished first and second in the Kenyan trials, were part of an eight-runner lead pack 20 minutes into the eight-kilometer race. But that group had been reduced to four when the two of them, Boki Diriba of Ethiopia, and Dan Kibet of Uganda ascended an uphill portion of the course a minute and a half later.
Although Kibet looked more relaxed than any of the four during much of the race, he was the first one to drop back when they began their ascent up the final uphill portion of the course.
Diriba was close behind Kipkurui when the trio started down the final downhill straightaway, but he could not hold off Cheruiyot for second place.
Kipkurui’s winning time was 24:29, followed by Cheruiyot (24:30) and Diriba (24:30). Kibet placed fourth in 24:36.
Senayet Getachew and Medina Eisa placed first and second in the U20 women’s race to help Ethiopia win its fourth consecutive title with a 15-22 victory over Kenya. The U.S. placed third with 54 points to win its first team medal since the U20 women’s race was added to the World Cross Country Championships schedule in 1989.
All four of the Americans’ scoring runners were preps, led by seniors Ellie Shea of Belmont, Massachusetts — 10th in 21:48 — and Irene Riggs of Morgantown, West Virginia — 12th in 22:03.
The battle for the individual title quickly turned into a Ethiopia-Kenya affair and the lead pack consisted of six Ethiopians and three Kenyans after the second of three loops on the six-kilometer course.
That group had been reduced to Getachew and Esia, along with Kenyans Pamela Kosgei and Faith Cherotich midway through the last lap, and Getachew began to break away from the others after that.
She completed the 6,000-meter course in 20:53, followed by Esia in 21:00, Kosgei in 21:01, and Cherotich in 21:10.