The 2008

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 ...

took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the

Holyrood Park Holyrood Park (also called the Queen's Park or King's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, loc ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition. This was the year in which

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

became the first athlete in World Cross history to win six individual long course titles, breaking his tie with

John Ngugi John Ngugi Kamau (born 10 May 1962), is a former Kenyan long-distance runner, often called one of the greatest cross country runners of all time and winner of the 5000 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics, in Seoul South Korea. Career Born in Kigu ...

and

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

who had each won five. Reports of the event were given in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', in the

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

, and for 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 ...

Medallists

Race results

Senior men's race (12 km)

Complete results for senior men and for senior men's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Junior men's race (7.905 km)

Complete results for junior men and for junior men's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Senior women's race (7.905 km)

Complete results for senior women and for senior women's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Junior women's race (6.04 km)

Complete results for junior women and for junior women's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Medal table (unofficial)

*Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 448 athletes from 57 countries participated. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. The announced athletes from , , and did not show. * (16) * (1) * (22) * (2) * (7) * (1) * (6) * (14) * (1) * (1) * (26) * (1) * (4) * (2) * (2) * (1) * (2) * (17) * (27) * (10) * (1) * (1) * (1) * (1) * (21) * (9) * (26) * (4) * (27) * (2) * (2) * (2) * (3) * (1) * (21) * (1) * (4) * (1) * (1) * (2) * (18) * (10) * (11) * (1) * (1) * (10) * (23) * (1) * (3) * (3) * (13) * (2) * (27) * (27) * (1) * (2) * (1)

References

External links

Official website
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