The 1st

African Cross Country Championships The African Cross Country Championships is a regional cross country running competition for athletes from Africa. History The competition had a one off edition in 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the medallists were mostly from the host nation.

was an international

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

competition for African athletes which was held on 6 March 2011 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Organised by the

Confederation of African Athletics The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA; French: ''Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme'') is the continental association for the sport of athletics in Africa. It is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. It organises the African Championships in ...

, it marked the start of a new continental competition for Africa following the decision by the

IAAF 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 ...

to alter the scheduling of the World Cross Country Championships from every year to a biennial format. The event consisted of four race categories, featuring senior and junior races for men and women. The

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n athletes took a complete sweep of the competition, winning all the individual medals and the four team titles.

Mercy Cherono Mercy Cherono Koech (born 7 May 1991) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the silver medalist in the 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres (2 ...

, a former World Junior Champion, took the women's senior title while the less well-known John Mwangangi won the men's senior race. Japhet Korir and

Caroline Chepkoech Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui (born 26 May 1994) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in distances from 3000 metres to the half marathon. She has worked at the Altay Athletics club in Kazakhstan since 2017 Coach by Ken Rotic ...

won the men's and women's junior

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s, respectively. Sigosi Chesonane, representing the host nation, was the only non-Kenyan to reach the top five in an event, finishing fifth in the men's senior race. Although Kenya dominated the competition, none of its runners at the African event ran at the

2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20, 2011. The races were held at the Polideportivo Antonio Gil Hernández in Punta Umbría, Spain. Reports of the event were given for the IAAF. Preparation The Unite ...

two weeks later.

Athletics Kenya Athletics Kenya (AK) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (track and field) in Kenya. It is a member of World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics. AK organises athletics competitions held in Kenya. It also sends Kenyan team ...

sent the best performers at that year's Kenya Cross Country Championships to the world event, while those ranking seventh to tenth in the national race were sent to the event in Cape Town. The continent's second foremost nation in cross country,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, did not send any athletes to the competition. The Kenyan team's jubilant celebrations led to the entire squad of 30 runners and officials missing their flight for

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, scheduled later that day at

Cape Town International Airport Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second-busiest airport in South Africa and fourth-busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city center, the airport wa ...

.Kenyan athletes miss flight in South Africa

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

(2011-03-07). Retrieved on 2011-03-07.

Medallists

Individual

Participation

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References

;Results
Senior menSenior womenJunior menJunior women
{{African Championships in Athletics navigation African Cross Country African Cross Country Championships International athletics competitions hosted by South Africa 2011 in South African sport African cross Country Sports competitions in Cape Town Cross country running in South Africa March 1994 sports events in Africa 2010s in Cape Town __NOTOC__