The 1996

IAAF World Road Relay Championships The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was a biennial international athletics competition in long-distance relay running. First organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four edi ...

was the third edition of the global, international

marathon relay is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on Road running, roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009. The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competiti ...

competition, organised by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(IAAF). The event took place on 13–14 April on the streets of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

with the participation of 282 athletes (174 men and 108 women) from 34 nations. The women's race took place on Saturday 13 April and the men's race took place on Sunday 14 April. Each national team consisted of six athletes, who alternately covered six stages to complete the 42.195 km

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

distance. The first, third and fifth stages were of 5 km, the second and fourth stages were of 10 km, and the final stage covered the remaining 7.195 km.IAAF World Road Relay Championships

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved 2019-08-22. In the women's race, Genet Gebregiorgis and

Berhane Adere Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973 in Shewa) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and the half marathon. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champio ...

established a 38-second lead for Ethiopia over the first two legs. The nation dominated the competition to win in a championship record of 2:16:04, having the fastest runner in every stage, bar an interruption of Italy's Silvia Sommaggio on the third leg. The Romanian and Japanese teams traded places for the runner-up spot, but a decisive final leg by Elena Fidatov brought the Romanians the silver medals by a margin of 17 seconds. In the men's race, it was the Kenyan team that dominated, with Simon Rono and

Joseph Kimani Joseph Kimani (September 1, 1972 – November 1, 2012) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who competed over 10,000 metres on the track and in road running competitions. In his native country, he was commonly referred to as "KK" for Kimani Kara ...

establishing a lead of 41 seconds over the first two stages and David Kipruto grabbing the fastest time in the fifth stage. The Brazilians closed the gap slightly in the mid-race thanks to Delmir dos Santos, but ultimately ended up runners-up with a time of 2:01:24 hours behind Kenya's 2:00:40. Ethiopia and the hosts Denmark battled for the bronze position throughout the race but a strong final leg by Ethiopia's

Worku Bikila Worku Bikila (born 6 May 1968) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specialized mainly in the 5000 metres. His 10,000 metres time of 27:06.44 minutes in 1995 was the second-fastest time that year, behind Haile Gebrselassie. He repres ...

resulted in a time of 2:01:50 hours, putting clear distance between the two teams.

Medal summary

Stage winners

Results

Men's race

Women's race

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:IAAF World Road Relay Championships,1996

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

World Road Relay Championships World Road Relay Championships World Road Relay Championships April 1996 sports events in Europe International sports competitions in Copenhagen International athletics competitions hosted by Denmark Marathons in Denmark