The 2nd

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

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n athletes which was held on 18 March 2012 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 ...

's Keurboom Park in South Africa. 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 ...

and

Athletics South Africa Athletics South Africa is the national governing body for the sport of athletics (including track and field, cross country, road running and racewalking) in South Africa, recognised by the IAAF, and also a member of Confederation of African Athl ...

, it was the first time that the competition represented that year's foremost event in the sport, as the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

was not held. Twenty-one nations entered athletes into the event and 160 runners participated in the races. There were four championship races held at the event, featuring senior and junior races for men and women. The senior races were won by Kenyan athletes for a second year running, with Clement Langat and

Joyce Chepkirui Joyce Chepkirui (born 20 August 1988) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events. She established herself as a half marathon runner, winning races in Granollers, Bogotá and Gothenburg. She set a best of 1:06:19 h ...

taking the men's and women's titles, respectively. Kenya also won the women's junior race through

Faith Kipyegon Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born 10 January 1994) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specializing in the 1500 metres. A 2016 Rio Olympic and 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record at the latter, she is the second woman in history t ...

, while Ethiopia took the men's junior title as

Muktar Edris Muktar Edris (born 14 January 1994) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country races. Career Muktar made his first international appearances in 2011, taking seventh place in the junior race at the ...

won that race. Kenya won both team races in the senior categories and also the men's junior team title. The Ethiopian junior women broke the Kenyan dominance of the event by winning that team title, although Kenya were one runner short of a team and swept the individual medals.

Medallists

Individual

Team

Participation

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References

;Results
CAA African Cross Country Championshipsarchived
. Finish Time.za. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.

Athletics Africa. Retrieved 2019-09-29. {{African Championships in Athletics navigation African Cross Country African Cross Country Championships Cross Country Championships

Sports competitions in Cape Town International athletics competitions hosted by South Africa Cross country running in South Africa Cross Country Championships African Cross Country Championships, 2012 __NOTOC__